On May 1st, the Lower Moreland team competed as one of the 8 finalists at the state level in the PennDOT Innovations Challenge. Having secured previous victories at the local and regional levels, the girls advanced to the final round. Anna Akhobadze, Brinda Dass, Sharon Lee and Lindsay McShane put in the hours after school to research and design an impressive design.
The judges (which included the State Secretary of Transportation) were very impressed by the ingenuity of the team’s innovative plan for the replacement of an aging multi-lane roadway to reconnect previously separated neighborhoods. To demonstrate their sustainable business corridor, the girls used AI modeling, SKetchup CAD design, and even an old-school diorama to make sure judges could really see their vision. The plan involved permeable surfaces, small business opportunities, bike curbs, and waste water reconditioning. They even broke down the anticipated costs for the project and timeline for their plan to actually return a profit.
Unfortunately, the girls were not selected as the winner, but they did get a nice consolation prize: a private tour of the Capital from Senator Maria Collett! After their presentation, they had an hour to kill, so the team hoped to take a tour, but unfortunately they were all booked for the day. Mr. Solomon dragged them in to find their Senator and request an appointment on the snowball’s chance she was available. Not only was she in, but she had time before the legislative session began and gave the girls a tour of the Senate chamber, parts of the Capital, and even the Minority Caucus room. Another Senator let her know that she was not to bring guests into the caucus room, but Senator Collett was unfazed and just continued on giving the storied history of the 2-ton chandeliers, the secretly subversive paintings, and the intentionally small doorway into the chambers meant to make you duck your head and show reverence.
At the regional level, the girls were able to tour the new PennDOT Region 6 command center in King of Prussia with all the cameras and roadway monitors surveilling our local highways. One of the operators there even bragged, “If you get in an accident on 95, I have already called the police before your car even comes to a stop.”
Mentor/Chauffeur Nick Solomon asked the girls to take elements from other presentations they liked to combine into this one and then go one step further. They researched some of PennDOT’s own innovations for the new I-95 capping landbridge to the water, the PiezoElectric tiles from our previous 2021 team’s winning submission and built a model the judges could put their hands on. It was the AI that most blew the judges’ minds, as there were realistic depictions of the street the girls envisioned.
A previous Lower Moreland team consisting of Misha Bankulla, Gopiga Dass, and Daniel Porotov won the challenge in 2021 for their PiezoElectric Tile design. Congratulations, girls!! We can’t wait to see what you design next year!