Alaina Gassler, a freshman at Avon Grove Charter School in Pennsylvania, won the 9th annual Broadcom MASTERS®, a STEM middle school competition. She beat thirty students from 13 states, showcasing mastery of 21st Century skills [1]. Finalists were selected by distinguished scientists from the Top 300 MASTERS, among 2,300 applicants. Alaina was declared the winner on October 29th at an awards ceremony at the Shakespeare Theatre Company [2].
Alaina’s project was inspired by her mother, who has anxiety driving the family’s Jeep Grand Cherokee due to the A-pillar design creating a blind spot. Alaina’s innovative solution made the A-pillars invisible using a webcam, projector, 3D printed adapter, and retroreflective fabric. For this, she was awarded the top Samueli Foundation Prize of $25,000 [3].
Alaina, now a high school freshman, submitted the project in eighth grade. After winning, she plans to make her prototype more unique, patent the design, and submit the idea to automotive companies like Tesla [4].
