Local teens work to create technology that keeps your home safe

Dayton — Teens in the Miami Valley are creating apps and tech that you may one day use to keep your home safe and secure.

22 teams from 16 high schools in the Miami Valley had 12 weeks to complete projects in four categories- apps, robotics, drones and cybersecurity.

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The groups showed off their completed projects at the finale of the Sinclair Community College and AT&T Teen Coding Challenge “Hackathon: Keeping it Secure” at Sinclair Community College today.

Some notable creations included Hamilton High School’s drones that can help search for missing people and aid in investigations, Ponitz CTC’s smart mirror called “Mirage” that displays news and apps, Miami Valley CTC’s home monitoring system using Roomba technology outfitted with a camera, and Springboro High’s home security system which included a guard robot that shoots rubber bands.

The goal is to get students excited about coding, technology and teamwork, according to Hackathon co-chair and Sinclair associate professor of computer information systems, Mike Labassi.

“This is what you see in the real world, so we are preparing them for working with teams in society,” Labassi said.

The hope is to also spark careers, according to AT&T Ohio’s external affairs director, Mark Romito.

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“In our economy and especially in my industry with the Internet of Things and smart cities, we need people that know how to code,” Romito said.

Timmy Fannin called the Hackathon project “an amazing experience” and said he would be pursuing a career in tech.

The projects were judged on their vision, execution, creativity and problem solving.

Miami Valley CTC won both the apps and robotics categories, Kings High took the top spot for cybersecurity, and Hamilton High won the drone category.

The winners receive a Google Home prize pack.