Innovations Challenge Winners
PennDOT Secretary Michael Carroll, left, presents certificates to the Innovations Challenge team from Norwin High School, from left, adviser Thomas Harskowitch, Noah Wilson and Troy Horvath.
2024 Statewide Winner
Norwin High School — "More Cohesion, Less Separation" includes a green pathway alongside the roadway to provide communal space, diverse vegetation, stormwater management and enhanced air quality. The solution also includes mixed-use zoning surrounding the project and a focus on connecting the community via pedestrian and bike paths.
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Students: Troy Horvath, Noah Wilson
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Adviser: Thomas Harskowitch
2024 Regional Winners
2024 Regional Innovations Challenge Winners
| District | School | Solution | Students | Adviser |
|---|
1
| Fort LeBoeuf High School
| Roundabout
| Austin Stein, Mason Friedman, James Oviatt, Ayden Wolfarth | Cody Patton
|
3
| Wellsboro Area High School
| | Ian Hoose, Natalie Cleveland, Carter Knowlton
| Francis Novak
|
5
| Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School
| Entry of Exits
| Kylia Neil, Raissa Estime | Dr. Corey Jones
|
6
| Lower Moreland High School
| Redesigning the Veins of America
| Brinda Dass, Anna Akhobadze, Lindsay McShane, Sharon Lee | Nick Solomon
|
8
| Central Dauphin High School
|
Divided by Design
| Kyle Peck, Alex Mendelsohn, Alan Keeney, Ryan Sowers
| Cody Leisey
|
10
| Lenape Technical School
|
Connecting Our Communities
| Olyvia Burns, Leia Ziembicki-Lewis, Kiley Held
| Jason P. Zimmerman
|
11
| South Fayette High School
| | Nikhil Amalraj, Ishaan Chahande, Rohan Paranjpe, Aayush Sandesh
| James Hausman III
|
12
| Norwin High School
| | Troy Horvath, Noah Wilson
| Thomas Harskowitch
|
PennDOT Secretary Michael Carroll, center right, presents certificates to the Innovations Challenge team from Lenape Technical School, from left, adviser Jason Zimmerman, Robert John and Elijah Mumau.
2023 Statewide Winner
Lenape Technical School — "Eco-Stops" a solution designed to create affordable, eco-friendly, and innovative rest stops along Pennsylvania's roadways. The solution included a proposal to offset costs and minimize the environmental impacts by using recycled asphalt pavement and concrete printed facilities, as well as solar energy.
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Students: Elijah Mumau, Robert John
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Adviser: Jason Zimmerman
2023 Regional Winners
2023 Regional Innovations Challenge Winners
| District | School | Solution | Students | Adviser |
|---|
1
| Fort LeBoeuf High School
|
Fairview Private Parking Area
| Kody Bukoski, Morgan McKinnon, Isabella Johnson
| Cody Patton
|
3
| Midd-West High School
|
Shoulder-Stop
| Jesse Witkowski, Ryland Portzline, Ben Hummel, Ayden Hoover
| Matthew Dietz
|
5
| Conrad Weiser High School
| Innovative Truck Stop Parking Solution
| Caitlin Oliviero, Jenny Le, Reagan Wenrich
| Ryan Knarr
|
6
| Conestoga High School
|
Revolutionizing Truck Parking through a 3-Prong Approach
| Faizaan Siddique, Andrew Hunter
| Jacqueline Gontarek
|
8
| Reach Cyber Charter School
|
Cargo-Duo: Increase Capacity Through Partnerships & Awareness
| Jenna Kargus, Starlynne Santiago
| Karen McGahee
|
9
| Penn Cambria High School
| Pittston Parking
| Lauren Farabaugh, Greg Asberry
| Jarrod McCombie
|
10
| Lenape Technical School
|
Eco-Stops
| Elijah Mumau, Robert John
| Jason P. Zimmerman
|
11
| Carlynton School District
| Advancements in Technology for Truck Stops
| Gabriel DiPietro, Caden Crow
| Emily Filus
|
12
| Norwin High School
|
Surplus Plaza
| Nicholas Cormas, Gabriel Conboy, Caden Hoffman
| Thomas Harskowitch
|
PennDOT Chief Executive Deputy, Jon Fleming, left, and ACEC/PA President, Rose Bougher, right, present the travelling trophy to the statewide winning team, from left, Gavin Glukhoy, Kyle Jarrett, Neylla Joseph and Brittany Ulate-Mora.
2022 Statewide Winner
Monroe Career and Technical Institute — "PaE3 program" a solution designed to help communities become “Excited, Educated and Engaged" about PennDOT projects. The program focuses on using existing technologies to approach the need for communication between PennDOT and its key stakeholders, including using map applications like Waze and Google Maps to provide notifications about proposed road work projects, similar to how those sites show accidents and current construction projects.
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Students: Neylla Joseph, Kyle Jarrett, Brittany Ulate-Mora and Gavin Glukhoy
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Adviser: Ross
Ruschman
2022 Regional Winners
2022 Regional Innovations Challenge Winners
| District | School | Solution | Students | Adviser |
|---|
1
| Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy
| PA Drivers Assistance App
| Isabella Zewe, Zoe Barron, Pasya Kashindi
| James Fleming
|
4
| North Pocono High School
| Rate-A-Ride
| Mason Natalini, Daniel Pierzchala
| Nathan Jones
|
5
| Monroe Career and Technical Institute
| PaE3 program
| Neylla Joseph, Kyle Jarrett, Brittany Ulate-Mora, Gavin Glukhoy
| Ross Ruschman
|
6
| Downingtown High School East
| Public Engagement Efficiency
| Chaitrali More, Rohan Patel, Rishi Attarde, Yajat Gupta
| Brad Oliver
|
8
| Reach Cyber Charter School
| PennDOT Community Hub App
| Cecilia Edwards, Juan Pablo Ambriz, Starlynne Santiago
| Karen McGahee
|
9
| Northern Bedford County High School
| Bridge Ice/Freezing Warning System
| Richard Bollinger, Hailey Bollman, Cameron Clark, Landon Fleck
| Craig Curfman
|
12
| Norwin High School
| Google Ads
| Robert Chappell, Zachary Moffatt
| Thomas Hasrkowitch
|
PennDOT Innovations Challenge Travelling Trophy and Leave-Behind Trophy.
2021 Statewide Winner
Lower Moreland High School — "Saving Energy, Generating Cash" a solution advocating the use of piezoelectric plates on Pennsylvania's roadways to generate large amounts of sustainably sourced energy. Power generated from the devices would be sold to electric producers, creating a new revenue source for Pennsylvania’s transportation system.
- Students: Misha Bankulla, Gopiga Dass, Daniel Porotov
- Adviser: Nick Solomon
2021 Regional Winners
2021 Regional Innovations Challenge Winners
| District | School | Solution | Students | Adviser |
|---|
| 2 | State College High School
| Credit Card License
| Jake Levan, Sae'awzha Williams, Leslie Powers
| Bridget Ciolkosz
|
| 3 | Midd-West High School
| Multi-Design Approach
| Isabella Parra, Gabriel Drumheller
| Ed Gunkle
|
| 4 | Dallas High School
| PennDOT Safe Driving App
| Colin Marshall & Evan Plank
| Emma Healey
|
5
| North Schuylkill Jr./Sr. High School
| Wind Power
| Carter Koscil, Anthony Cutrona, Donovan Norwich, Justin Williams
| Kelly Stone
|
6
| Lower Moreland High School
| Saving Energy, Generating Cash
| Misha Bankulla, Gopiga Dass, Daniel Porotov
| Nick Solomon
|
6
| The Hill School
| PA Road Rewards
| Edward Proffitt, Rohan Dondeti, Andres Arevalo, Juan Hinostroza
| Christopher Chirieleison
|
8
| Dover Area High School
| Funding Roads: A Three Step Approach
| Keegan Fobes and Hailie Miller
| Emily Miller
|
11
| North Allegheny Cyber Academy
| Restructuring Registration Fee with Rebates
| Brendan White, Benjamin Quint
| Janellen Lombardi
|
12
| Kiski Area High School
| Road Runner
| Cora Coleman and Abigail Johns
| Matthew Snedecor
|
|
The 2020 statewide winning team from Monroe Career and Technical Institute, from left, Kyle Jones and Jason Herrera, at the regional judging event at the PennDOT Engineering District 5 Office.
2020 Statewide Winner
Monroe Career and Technical Institute — "Pennsylvania Trashout" website and mobile application, which would motivate and award prizes to individuals who find, report and pick up litter, based on the concepts of POKEMON GOTM and Geocaching.
- Students: Kyle Jones, Jason Herrera
- Adviser: Ross Ruschman
2020 Regional Winners
2020 Regional Innovations Challenge Winners
| District | School | Solution | Students | Adviser |
|---|
| 1 | Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy
| Litter Bug
| LaceyJo Hunter, Destiny Krome, Amrita Sarki
| James Fleming
|
| 2 | Bradford Area High School
| Work Smart Not Hard
| Nicholas Ward, Ian Grady, Alex Marrone, Samantha Gray
| Peter Eckstrom
|
| 3 | Midd-West High School
| Automatic Roadside Cleaner (ARC)
| Reid Dunkelberger, Chase Strohecker, Elias Swartz
| Ed Gunkle
|
| 4 | North Pocono High School
| Keep Pennsylvania Clean
| Alyvia Scutt, Isavel Rodriguez
| Maria Capitano
|
4
| Hanover Area Jr./Sr. High School
| Highway Side
| Amelia Joubert, Dayna Cruz, Sierra Hildebrand
| Christa Langdon
|
5
| Monroe Career & Technical Institute
| Pennsylvania Trashout
| Kyle Jones, Jason Herrera
| Ross Ruschman
|
6
| PA Virtual Charter School
| Statewide Litter Competition
| Layla Koon, Alysandra Chen, Logan Seaver
| Zach Mehal
|
8
| Reach Cyber Charter School
| Litter Impact
| Audrey Vereshack, Madelyn Vereshack, Elyssia Good
| Jessica Vernouski
|
| 10 | Seneca Valley Senior High School
| Litter Gitter
| Darius Zalnasky, Sydney McMurray, Brady McConnell, Kathleen Monahan, Ty Brinkley
| Dean Walker
|
| 11 | South Fayette High Schooll
| CashCan
| Tanush Shrivastava, Himanish Kolli, Daxen Prajapati, Niveidhan Praveen
| James Hausman
|
|
| 12 | Norwin High School
| PALS (Pennsylvania Litter System) App
| John Christian, Joshua Gubanich, Jordan Loy, Elias Mignogna
| Tom Harskowitch
|
PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards, left, presents winning certificates to the Innovations Challenge team from North Allegheny Senior High School, from left, Leela Pinnamaraju and Isha Das.
2019 Statewide Winner
North Allegheny Senior High School — "Safe Drive" app, which would allow users to see their work zone violations in real time. The app's interface would reward drivers with points for good behavior and penalize drivers for violations.
- Students: Isha Das, Leela Pinnamaraju
- Adviser: Laura Prosser
2019 Regional Winners
2019 Regional Innovations Challenge Winners
| District | School | Solution | Students | Adviser |
|---|
| 1 | Farrell Area High School | Pingers | Camryn Gipson, Kayla Bello, Rachel Owens | Kim Kladitis |
| 2 | Juniata High School
| Narrow Lanes, Slow Traffic
| Carl Fowler, Trevor Kinsloe
| Raina Haubert
|
| 3 | Northeast Bradford Senior High School
| Speed Governor Jammer
| Eryn Nichols, Jazmine Elliott, Jenna Whaley, Madison Jochum
| Rebecca Folk
|
| 4 | Dallas High School
| Photovoltaic Photo Finish
| Michael Quinnan, Shreene Patel, Maddie Baloga, Alex DeRome
| Kevin West
|
| 5 | North Schuylkill High School | Personalized Digital Sign | Drew Mashack, Tyler Wolfgang | Kelly Stone |
| 6 | Academy Park High School
| Incentivizing the Road
| Cheyenne Phillips, Sahmir Blackwell
| Colleen DiMaggio
|
| 8 | Hershey High School
| RedWrench
| Angie Bu, Eman Asghar
| Colette Silvestri
|
| 9 | Somerset Area Senior High School | Signal-Controlled Governor | Benjamen Geary, Andrew Beachy, Tyson Hostetler | Homer Kreinbrook, Michael Benton
|
| 10 | Seneca Valley Senior High School
| "Smart" Speed Bumps
| Caroline Cohen, Kevin Karatassos
| Dean Walker
|
| 11 | North Allegheny Senior High School | Mobile app
| Isha Das, Leela Pinnamaraju | Laura Prosser |
| 12 | Norwin High School
| Laser Technology Solution
| Emily Jumba, Hannah Jackson
| Tom Harskowitch
|
PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards, center, presents winning certificates to the Innovations Challenge team from Haverford School, from left, Yiheng Chen, Aram LaVan, Micky Fairorth, and Will Vauclain.
2018 Statewide Winner
Haverford School — Machine-Learning Based Attention Analysis Tool on Smartphones Safeguarding Driving Teens
- Students: Micky Fairorth, Will Vauclain, Yiheng Chen, Aram LaVan
- Adviser: Holly Golecki
2018 Regional Winners
2018 Regional Innovations Challenge Winners
| District | School | Solution | Students | Adviser |
|---|
| 1 | Meadville Area High School | Teen Safe Driving App | Pallas Athena Cain, Alexis Holt, Elizabeth Grove, Saskia Jager | Jill Hyatt |
| 4 | Dallas High School | Safe Driving School for Students | Michael Quinnan, Shreena Patel, Maddie Baloga, Kelly Young | Kevin West |
| 4 | Lehman Intermediate | Comic Strips | Jason Lopez, Donjee Mosley-Saunders, Hennessy Velazquez, Kayla Ortiz | Kendal Askins |
| 5 | Pocono Mountain East High School | Sensor Wheel | Brandon Torres, Zacahry Racavich | Dr. Deborah Kerby |
| 6 | Haverford School | Machine-Learning Based Attention Analysis Tool on Smartphones Safeguarding Driving Teens | Micky Fairorth, Will Vauclain, Yiheng Chen, Aram LaVan | Holly Golecki |
| 8 | Cedar Crest High School | Sobriety Test Key | Gabrielle Talys, Addie Harvey, Justice Armstrong | Jill Houtz |
| 11 | South Fayette High School | KYHU (Keep Your Head Up) Driving App | Parv Shrivastiva, Suraj Bokil, Vinay Pedapati, Siddartha Khanjachi | James Hausman |