A small contingency of the Flying Monkeys, a group of Girl Scouts and FIRST LEGO League Team from Ames, Iowa, who developed a prosthetic hand device to help a three-year-old toddler without fingers write, are in Washington DC to represent the team at the White House Science Fair. The fair is being held on Tuesday, February 7, and celebrates the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competitions from across the country.
The President will also announce key steps that the Administration and its partners are taking to help more students excel in math and science, and earn degrees in these subjects.
At the fair, the President will view exhibits of student work, ranging from breakthrough research to new inventions, followed by remarks to an audience of students, science educators and business leaders on the importance of STEM education to the country’s economic future.
The Flying Monkeys are currently filing a patent for their prosthetic hand device called BOB-1. The team won the inaugural Global Innovation Award at the FIRST LEGO League competition, beating out nearly 200 other submissions. Their technology has earned the girls the Heartland Red Cross Young Heroes Award, scholarships at Iowa State University College of Engineering, recognition on the Floor of the Iowa and the US House of Representatives, and the title of finalists for the 2011 Pioneer Hi-Bred Iowa Women of Innovation Awards.