WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Tucked along Summit Blvd in West Palm Beach, you'll find West Palm Beach Junior Academy, home to nearly 140 students. That's where you will also find a trio of 7th graders who are making waves in medical technology.
If you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, you'll get a wide range of answers. 7th graders Ana Mendieta, Christy Dumerlus and Uzzyah Moise say they want to be doctors, pediatricians and lawyers.
These bright minds have engineered a device that tracks people's heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature.
The device is called Biosenzor, and the students are designing it with the ability to send out an SOS in the event of an emergency. They came up with the idea after the school lost one of their beloved kindergarten teachers to an unexpected heart attack last year.
"She was a great part of this school, and we want to keep her memory alive," Dumerlus said.
The students spent months designing, building and even learning how to code the device. They partnered with the Florida Conference Office of Education before entering into this year's Innovation X competition for the first time.
All of their hard work paid off after they were announced the winner— beating dozens of other students' inventions.
Principal Marliano Smith told WPTV reporter Christy Waite that he just wanted his students to gain valuable experience at the competition and watching them win was a wonderful moment for everyone.
The young inventors are hoping to add more features to their device in the future with the common goal of saving lives and bringing awareness to heart health.
Right now, the students are working on updating the device as they prepare for a nationwide competition in Michigan. Principal Smith says West Palm Beach Junior Academy is the defending champion.
The students say they hope to have the device fully built so they can market it online.
