The annual White House Science Fair is, above all else, an amazing public relations play. President Obama hangs out with a few dozen of America's brightest students who show off their latest work and get celebrated for it. Everyone wins, right?
In this instance, yes: everyone wins. Regardless of the good publicity, the annual White House gathering -- now in its fourth year -- is one of the few events we attend that's completely genuine. It's hard to keep up a facade of bullshit when brilliant, driven, passionate kids are literally surrounding you with their accomplishments.
There were too many smart kids with neat projects for us to cover everything. And President Obama's dog, Bo, was running around, so you'll forgive me for getting distracted. Dogs, right? Here are a few standouts among the standouts:
Deidre Carillo's project is an electric kit car that she drives. Carillo, 18, is part of the team that built the project, and she's also its pilot. She's pretty good at both, as not only is her team's car, Dragon 1, a formidable competitor, but she took home first place in this year's Emerald Coast Electrathon. Her team's car was created from a Blue Sky Design kit, though as you can see above, it got plenty of custom work.
In the next room, what looked like a miniature, futuristic wrecking ball was attached to a machine resembling the Mars Curiosity rover. Rather than a destruction vehicle for martian structures, the rover is a remarkably easy to use rescue tool. How easy to use? So easy, I could pilot it. Heck, it uses a Logitech game controller for operation. Pretty easy! The idea is that the wrecking ball end -- a ball with waterproof lights and two cameras -- can be lowered into iced over waters to assist with search-and-rescue missions. Rather than sending human divers into dangerous conditions, the 120 pound device can be remotely operated. More than just a science project, the Natick, Mass-based team is working on patenting and licensing the tech.
Smart Voip: James Potter
