Driving home today.  We cannot describe how thankful we are to have been a part of this awesome process known as InvenTeams.  Thank you to all of those who have supported us this year, including the Durham Community, our donors, and the Lemelson-MIT Program.  We’ve made memories that will last us a lifetime and we will remember all the people/groups that helped us.  Thank you again!

Today EurkeaFest took over the Boston Museum of Science.  All of the students were split into 25 groups and asked to design a wind-powered machine that could raise a trashcan.  Vincent’s team, “Safety Stripe,” took first place (see video above).  Victor’s team was 2nd and Pearlie’s won “Most Splendid Failure” after their machine blew away when the fans turned on.    We have our closing “cookout” a little while from now and then we trek back to Durham tomorrow!

Today the students created a quick “Business Plan” and pitched it to accomplished collegiate inventors for feedback.

This afternoon we made our formal presentation at EurekaFest 2010!  Our team did a great job!  The scariest moment was during the Q&A (pictured above) when the Lemelson-MIT $100,000 prize-winner Dr. BP Agrawal asked our students if they had considered tapping biological systems (such as Sequoya Trees water transfer) to move water instead of using a pump to water the plants.  With all of us nervous, Vincent answered, “If you can dream it, it is possible.”  Roaring laughter and applause as that ended our presentation!    We have gallery presentations tonight.

The classic "MIT" shot

After a great sight-seeing trip on the way, we’ve finally arrived at MIT proper.  We spent this afternoon practicing for tomorrow’s big presentation and then had a wonderful “welcome dinner” where we met the other teams.  After dinner we had a design challenge (see our Photo Gallery) that got us into our engineering mindsets.  More practice tonight before the big day!

At Fidelity Investments learning about how emerging technologies work for their company

We spent the morning taking an AWESOME tour of the headquarters of Fidelity Investments here in Boston.  We spent an hour learning about how emerging technologies jell with business and the future of business.  Amazing research being done on how people use the internet.  Then we went and observed the trading floor where traders buy and sell the stocks that make up Fidelity’s mutual funds.  Our hosts were very gracious.  Thank you, Fidelity!

Awesome cable-stayed bridge

Our first day in Boston!  We spent the morning practicing our presentations for Thursday and Friday, then started our foot tour of Boston.  We walked the Freedom Trail, learning about Boston and its history, took in a street performance, then had dinner with our MIT contact Ellen.  Feet are sore but spirits are great!  Be sure to check out our Photo Gallery and map!  Touring Fidelity in the morning!