Tuesday, February 27, 2024

On to the State VEX Finals


Our Thinkabit Lab interns Greyson and Quinn are among the Wakefield High School Vex Robotics team that double-qualified for the State competition. 




Friday, February 16, 2024

Congratulations to Dr. Andreea Sistrunk!

On February 15 Dr. Andreea Sistrunk successfully defended her thesis concerning human-computer interaction in revising or refining school division boundaries, with future similar possible broader impacts in refining other boundaries in public decision-making.

Read more here.



Tuesday, February 13, 2024

HS students create light-powered super chip

 

Fairfax Co. students create light-powered super chip, impacting data center industry



A group of teenagers in Fairfax County have created a supercomputer chip with the goal of reinventing the computer.

“We used to skip lunch,” said Sathvik Redrouthu. “Make little structures out of popsicle sticks.”

Redrouthu is one of the founders of Procyon, a company he started with his friends aimed at reinventing the computer, allowing them to on laser light rather than electricity. The group has been coming up and brainstorming ideas since their elementary school days.

“Random products like just coming up with new things and figuring out how we can make it work,” described Pranav Vadde.

There was a machine that provided a different way to enter a password. Then there was this theoretical device.

“Something like a laser shoots stuff and then you would teleport to where it went. So we made the laser. We didn’t make the teleportation part,” remembered Jagadeepram Maddipatla.

These days, these high schoolers are still working on the technology of the future. But this time, they have an actual prototype. Their latest invention is a supercomputer chip powered by light.

“The light coming out your light bulb is insanely fast. It's the fastest thing in the world,” explained Redrouthu. “So we were like, what if you just replace all that electricity with just with light? So they're like small lasers like inside the chip.”

Friday, December 8, 2023

Walt Whitman Middle School

 

Sometimes as teachers we encounter former elementary students in our Lab who are now middle school students (as in this photo with Jessica and Whitman students), and sometimes we've even encountered former students in our Lab who are now experienced teachers!