CMHS senior speaks to Kiwanis about winning NASA competition
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LAURA JAMESON/THE EXPRESS
Gianna Renzo is pictured with Sue Hanna, a science teacher at CMHS and the school's STEM Club advisor. Hanna was a huge help during the construction of the Germaphobe and an influence during her three years in the club, Renzo said.
LOCK HAVEN -- Lock Haven Kiwanis members heard from a bright young woman on Thursday afternoon.
Gianna Renzo, a senior at Central Mountain High School, along with a team of students from across the country recently placed first in the 2020 NASA TI (Texas Instrument) Codes Contest.
The group of five, lead by Renzo, constructed a robot called the Germaphobe which would use UV lights to disinfect the international space station.
"We had to use a calculator to build this, which was another challenge," Renzo said.
The funding consisted of a Texas Instrument TICE calculator and $50 to accomplish their goals.
"We were on a pretty tight budget to make this project," she said.
However, with countless hours spent on Zoom calls the group was able to construct the prototype, which was powered by the calculator, Renzo said.
Renzo explained the idea to compete in the contest came this past summer after multiple internship and educational opportunities fell through due to COVID-19.
She sent out her idea to other students her age who signed up for the same programs and she got immediate responses.
"Science can really bring people together," she said.
Although already well versed in multiple aspects of STEM, Renzo said she got the chance to learn about coding -- the process of designing and building an executable computer program to accomplish a specific computing result or to perform a specific task.
"I didn't have coding experience going into this project. I had to learn how to code from scratch," she said, noting that members of her team with experience assisted her in learning the process.
As team leader Renzo also handled much of the design process of the robot.
Renzo noted that NASA is currently researching a project similar to her team's.
"It's a $10 million project," she said. "It was pretty cool to see what we could do with a $50 calculator to create something similar."
Renzo and her team plans to donate their final prize to each of their high schools to expand STEM programs for kids.
"We wanted to create more STEM opportunities in robotics because it can be very expensive," she said.
The team plans to donate graphing calculators as well as Texas Instrument programming which they used to create the Germaphobe… all of which costs about $500 each, she said.
Sue Hanna, Renzo's STEM Club advisor at CMHS, spoke about how proud she was of the senior's accomplishments.
"She's been an amazing influence on my life. She inspired me so much to raise the bar… with her talent, perserverance and genuine love of science," Hanna said. "I'm hoping she can inspire the next generation of students."