Platt Technical High School junior Ethan Feldman, an Information Systems Technology student, has been invited as a finalist to present at the NASA HUNCH Final Design Review program in Houston, Texas on April 16, 2019.
Ethan competed against 173 school teams nationwide for the opportunity to present his product to NASA designers and engineers at the Johnson Space Center. Only 10 teams across the country were selected this year to present.
HUNCH stands for High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware. The HUNCH mission is to empower and inspire students through a Project Based Learning program where high school students learn 21st century skills and have the opportunity to launch their careers through the participation in the design and fabrication of real world valued products for NASA.
Using existing technology, and the skills learned at Platt Tech, Ethan developed software that can easily identify objects and provide information in real time for space station astronauts. Identification takes place through a mobile device camera using artificial intelligence.“In real life, NASA might use this to identify tools and then direct the user to directions on how to use the tool,” said Ethan. “I was also thinking that this could be used in a learning environment, like holding the camera up to a math equation to receive directions on how to solve it.”Ultimately, Ethan hopes that presenting his design will get him a foot in the door.
“I’ve always wanted to work at NASA,” said Ethan. “[HUNCH] gets your name out. They want to find people that will work well at NASA. They want to find creative people.”
Information Systems Technology is just one of 14 career technical trades offered at Platt Technical High School located in Milford, CT. Platt Tech is part of the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS). CTECS is a statewide system of 17 diploma-granting technical high schools serving approximately 11,200 high school students, two Aviation Maintenance Technician schools and a Technical Education Center. Learn more at www.cttech.org.
