Coinciding with the upcoming May 6 release of Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War,” Disney and Marvel Studios, Dolby Laboratories, Synchrony Bank, Broadcom MASTERS and Science & Entertainment Exchange, a program of National Academy of Sciences have announced the winner of “Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War — Girls Reforming the Future” contest.
Meet Maia Dua, from Sacramento, California. Dua won the contest by developing a “seeing eye” robot as a cost-effective and durable alternative to a seeing eye dog. According to Marvel’s release, the self-propelled, echo-locating “Seeing Eye-Bot” is made of readily accessible materials, making it more accessible to individuals of limited financial resources. Dua designed the seeing eye-bot to require minimal maintenance and to have a functional life span for over seven years. Dua hopes her invention can address the needs of the visually impaired who may be unable or unwilling to own a seeing eye dog.
Dua will participate in a week-long internship at Marvel Studios, where she will learn how STEM skills are being used in the film industry. At the end of her internship, she will join the four other finalists, Holly Riepling from Colorado Springs, Colorado; Janie Kim from San Diego, California; Margaret Fleck from Emmaus, Pennsylvania; and Vivian Qiang from Marlboro, N.J., to help inspire other young girls by participating in a live global webinar. During the webinar, all five girls will discuss how their STEM skills enabled them to create their projects and become a finalist of the challenge.
