As a hands-on learner, working with technology makes me genuinely excited about learning. I and two others came together to enter a competition called Next Generation Technology (NGT). In this competition, participants must come up with and implement a solution for a real-world issue.

I knew what I had in mind, right when the competition started. When I was just a kid, my parents had accidentally forgotten me in the car. I remember not being able to get my seatbelt off and screaming for help for what felt like hours. Eventually, my grandpa heard me screaming, and came to my rescue. Some children are not as fortunate as I was. In 2018 alone, 48 children died from being left in hot cars (NSC, 2018). Our design was a “smart” booster seat for children. The seat has integrated temperature and weight sensors, GPS tracking, and an LTE-M cellular chip to connect to the internet. This IoT (Internet of Things) connected seat then can communicate with a data logging server and an app that I have programmed in Android Studio. If the child were left in the seat, the app would initially set off an alarm on the parent’s phone to remind them to retrieve their child. If the parent does not acknowledge the risk, the app promptly contacts emergency services with the location of the child.

This example of a real-world issue truly ignites my interest in learning, as it lights my passion for technology and humanity.