A team of three Virginia Western Community College students landed in the nation’s capital this summer as one of 12 finalist teams that advanced in the Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC) hosted by the American Association of Community Colleges and National Science Foundation.
The CCIC is a national competition in which community college student teams, working with a faculty or administrator team mentor, use science, technology, engineering and mathematics to innovate solutions to real-world problems. The 12 finalist teams attended an Innovation Boot Camp to share their ideas with industry leaders and compete for cash prizes.
Team Plastic Up-Cycling is part of the Appalachian Engineers Club at Virginia Western. This marks the second consecutive year the Appalachian Engineers have succeeded in reaching the CCIC finals. This year’s team consisted of students Kiana Watt, Erynn Martin and Joshua Hawks. The team proposed an affordable and sustainable way to reuse plastic through the development of a 3D filament printer, which turns recyclables into reinforced filament.
This competition teaches incredibly valuable skills applicable in all aspects of life and provides experiences that expand what students learn in their academic programs to real-life applications.
The team learned a great deal at the boot camp, which was held in Washington, D.C. on June 10-13. Outstanding subject matter experts provided training and coaching on the process of taking a STEM idea and turning it into a business or a nonprofit to address a significant problem in the world.
Students had great experiences, including presenting their project on Capitol Hill and creating a final pitch to share their idea with an expert panel of entrepreneurs.
“It’s such a testament to our students to have them reach this elite level of competition two years in a row,” said Virginia Western Dean of STEM and Workforce Solutions Amy White. “We are very proud of the team and so glad they had this real-world opportunity.”
