Ygnacio Valley High School in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District has been awarded a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam® grant in the amount of $7,500 to create an invention geared towards helping people with limited hand mobility regain their independence and reconnect with loved ones and their community. Ygnacio Valley High School in the East Bay is one of only eight high schools nationwide to be selected as an InvenTeam this year, and it is the only school in California to earn this honor.
The Ygnacio Valley High School InvenTeam is inventing a solution to assist those with limited ability to use their hands to—whether due to arthritis, cerebral palsy, or other conditions—overcome challenges in their daily lives, such as gripping utensils or using hand gestures to communicate. With more than 50 million adults in the U.S. affected by arthritis and 764,000 people living with cerebral palsy, these challenges are widespread and can become frustrating struggles, leading to feelings of isolation. The Ygnacio Valley High School InvenTeam is developing an innovative solution to empower people with limited hand mobility, with a goal of not only improving their quality of life, but also promoting a more inclusive and connected society. Joseph Alvarico, a 2024 California Teacher of the Year who teaches engineering and robotics at Ygnacio Valley High School, initiated the InvenTeam application process during the summer and worked with his students to prepare the final proposal. A respected panel of university professors, inventors, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, and college students including former InvenTeam members now working in industry selected the grantees.
The InvenTeam will also work with Ygnacio Valley High School math teacher Tabatha Box, who is part of the school’s International Baccalaureate staff and will help guide the students through the development of their invention. The team also hopes to attract outside mentors in the field of technology and/or Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) support. “We are starting to tell people about what we’re trying to do in the hopes of getting mentors, in-kind donations or monetary support for this,” Alvarico said, noting that the grant will not cover all of the group’s expenses.
By the end of the project, Alvarico said, “the students should have a solid idea of how to make a product that could be sold,” and they may have the opportunity to apply for a patent. He hand-picked the 12 members, who include both male and female students in grades 9-12 including many who are also members of the after-school robotics club he advises, have taught robotics to middle school students, and participate in dual enrollment engineering classes for which they are earning college credit through Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. After hearing about the grant program last year, Alvarico said: “I thought it would be really cool for students from Ygnacio Valley, with limited resources from low socioeconomic backgrounds to have the same opportunities that other students do, so we are making this a vehicle not just to help the community, but for the kids to see what’s outside of California. When I visited MIT last summer, I could really tell that these students could make it there, too. The students will stay at MIT and plan to visit Harvard. We’re going to try to raise some money to go on a college tour to New York and visit Columbia, NYU and Cornell.”
Over the next eight months, the Ygnacio Valley High School InvenTeam will develop a solution to the problem. The team will build a working prototype that will be showcased at a technical review here locally in February, and then again as a final prototype during EurekaFest®, an invention celebration taking place June 9-11, 2025, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“The InvenTeams are focusing on solving problems that impact their local communities,” says Leigh Estabrooks, Lemelson-MIT’s Invention Education Officer. “Teams are focusing their technological solutions — their inventions — on inequities in health and wellbeing, environmental issues, and safety concerns. These high school students are not just problem-solvers of tomorrow, they are problem solvers today helping to make our world more equitable, healthier, and safer.”
About the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams Grants Initiative
The InvenTeams initiative, now in its 21st year, has enabled 18 teams of high school students to earn U.S. patents for their projects. Intellectual property education is combined with our invention education offerings as part of the Lemelson-MIT Program’s deliberate efforts to remedy historic inequities among those who develop inventions, protect their intellectual property, and commercialize their creations. The ongoing efforts empower students from all backgrounds, equipping them with invaluable problem-solving skills that will serve them well throughout their academic journeys, professional pursuits, and personal lives. Our work with 4,049 students across 304 different teams nationwide these past 21 years includes:
- Partnering with intellectual property (IP) law firms to provide pro bono legal support
- Collaborating with industry-leading companies that provide technical guidance and mentoring
- Providing professional development for teachers on invention education and IP
- Assisting teams with identifying resources within their communities’ innovation ecosystems to support ongoing invention efforts
- Publishing case studies and research to inform the work of invention educators and policy makers and build support for engaging students in efforts to invent solutions to real-world problems thus fueling the innovation economy in the U.S.
ABOUT THE LEMELSON-MIT PROGRAM
The Lemelson-MIT Program is a national leader in efforts to prepare the next generation of inventors and entrepreneurs. Our work focuses on the expansion of opportunities for people to learn ways inventors find and solve problems that matter to improve lives. Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion aims to remedy historic inequities among those who develop inventions, protect their intellectual property and commercialize their creations.
Congrats Ygnacio Valley High School InvenTeam!!
Been up since 9:00 am and only one comment.
Had there been a big fight instead, there’d be 50 comments.
That’s where we’re at.
YVHS students have been using “using hand gestures to communicate” since the dawn of forever…nobody ever paid us for it.