Teams of Madison County high school students will be making their national TV debut while solving problems and inventing new products.
Networks including A&E and This Old House Network are slated to film during the Make48 Competition on July 21 to 23 at Purdue Polytechnic Institute in Anderson.
Footage will be used for the Make48 docuseries, said Lorri Barnett, director of Purdue Polytechnic Institute in Anderson and Richmond.
Eight teams from Madison and Delaware counties were selected to compete. Each team will consist of four students and at least one mentor.
Joshua Dillard, a teacher at Anderson High School, will be mentoring two of the three Anderson teams.
Dillard is new to this role and said he’s excited help students acquire a “STEM mindset.”
“It’s out-of-the-box kind of thinking,” he said. “To understand how science plays a role, how technology plays a role, engineering, math, how all of those play a role in coming up with solutions to problems around us.”
The contest is sponsored by a company with a problem. The company will enlist students’ help in solving that problem.
Students will have 48 hours to design and build a prototype, promotional video and sales sheet, according to a press release from Purdue University.
The product will be presented to a panel of judges, who will pick a winner.
The winners could have their product patented and production rights bought by the sponsoring company.
Barnett did not disclose the company’s name.
Patents don’t matter more than the experience, Dillard said.
“Regardless of if they get it or not, I’m going to feel extremely proud of them for accomplishing a task, stepping outside their comfort zone to do something national like this.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.