WASHINGTON, D.C. — Florida students are in Washington, D.C. this week for the second annual National STEM Festival. Champions from 47 states and four U.S. territories are presenting their winning projects.

What You Need To Know

  • The National STEM Festival is taking place in Washington, D.C. this week

  • There are three champions from Florida this year: Carson Granese, Gabriella Weiner, and Rudra Patel

  • Spectrum News spoke with Weiner and Patel about their innovations Thursday

Gabriella Weiner, a sophomore from Melbourne, Fla. is among the 100 students from across the country displaying her idea. 

She created a glove that can sense whether an item is too heavy for someone to pick up if they have weight restrictions following a surgery.

The concept for the idea was personal. 

"My dad actually had a hernia surgery, and he struggled a lot, like in the grocery store setting, knowing how much weight he could lift up. So, I created this post operative exertion detection glove with machine learning to help patients have a healthy recovery and not overexert themselves," Wiener said. 

Rudra Patel, a senior from Tampa, presented his project on developing a quantifiable test for psychiatrists to better diagnose patients.

"Usually when you go to a psychiatrist, you have, like, an open conversation, right? You get comfortable, you maybe sit down, maybe you lay down, and you just talk with a psychiatrist. And, while those conversations are vital, they often are very subjective at the end of the day," Patel said. 

Both Florida students say they are most looking forward to networking and learning from others this week. 

"I’m really looking forward to meeting a bunch of new people and making those connections," Wiener said. 

"Here, everybody's from different fields. They're just talking with each other, and they're giving their insights into what's happening. I think that's something that's really nice," Patel said.