Last week we were pleased to host this semester’s FlexFactor at the NextFlex offices. Four teams of high school students competed by pitching their inventive products to a panel of esteemed judges composed of Robert de Neve, General Partner & Chief Strategist General Partner & Chief Strategist at NextPhase Ventures; Christine Holly Ngo, VP of Operations and Business Development at Silicon Valley Elite Manufacturing, Inc; and Jackson Rambough, FHE Design and Process Engineer at NextFlex.
The first of the four inspiration products was a drone that, equipped with pesticides, analyzes what individual crops need spraying and delivers targeted bursts to only those plants, reducing the amount of pesticides released into the environment, saving valuable money and time for the farmers, and eliminating unnecessary intervention for healthy plants.
The second product was a lightweight, unobtrusive, and nearly invisible patch that scans the wearer for potential blood clots and signs of an impending stroke.
The third product was a backpack that takes inspiration from the animal kingdom, designed to function like a desert beetle that collects water from its surroundings. The wearable shell, designed for areas with low access to fresh water or disaster zones, pulls water from vapor around it and stores it in the pack, purifying it before it is consumed.
The final project was a fish-shaped robot that monitors pH levels, water temperature, and nutrient concentrations in hydroponic farms to help facilitate adoption of a farming style that is more environmentally-friendly and space-efficient.
