InteliSpark client Wicked Device, LLC has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant worth $225,000. The grant is for the SBIR project “A STEM toolkit enabling global air quality experiments.” This will enable Wicked Device to compete for a NSF Phase II SBIR award worth $750,000. Wicked Device is an electronic development company based in Ithaca, N.Y. They aim to “inspire and empower, making technological tools available to current and future inventors”. The SBIR project will adapt Wicked Device’s Air Quality Egg product for the educational market through the development of collaborative educational software.
The goal of the SBIR is to increase student’s engagement in experiential learning about environmental science. The project will change the scale of student scientific experiments from a local basis to a regional or even global level. By expanding to a regional and global level, it will help students understand the effects of both natural and human events have on air quality – while enabling development of more rigorous scientific thinking.
Under the SBIR project, Wicked Device will create software that allows big data to be available on a global scale. Currently, there is no such software without inaccuracy, failure and difficulty to use. Features of the software will facilitate data-sharing in a global network and include: GIS mapping, continuous logging, time averaging, annotation, and integration with compatible software systems.
This project will allow for a more interactive and creative approach while studying environmental science. By integrating this project in high school and post-secondary school curricula it will increase the likelihood and interest of students to enter a STEM field which will create a more diverse workforce and increase productivity.