Uni students’ “iSpyStroke” wins another ExploraVision Regional Competition

Sarah Guo (junior) and Tracy Li (junior), recently won the ExploraVision Regional Competition, adding to Uni’s lengthy list of winners.

Sponsored by biology teacher Cynthia Smyser and mentored by sophomore Maddie Kim, Guo and Li created “iSpyStroke”, a sleeping mask designed to identify strokes that occur while sleeping. Their idea functions by using electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors to detect irregular brain activity, which would then alert the user.

Guo noted how the pair “just started looking at certain conditions or diseases that people are affected by that there aren’t a lot of good technology or any detection or prevention methods for.”

Both Guo and Li have previously competed in the ExploraVision competition since subbie year, winning multiple honorable mentions awards in the competition.

Smyser, who has coached multiple ExploraVision projects over the last few years, assists students throughout the different stages of the competition. Symser mentioned how “one of the pieces of guidance I feel like I give them is don’t think about what technology you want to work with first. Think about what societal issue you want to address first, and then build something that addresses a problem that’s important to you.”

The ExploraVision regional winners were notified of their accomplishments in early March and had two weeks to prepare for the next stages to submit for the national competition. These components included creating a website and video for their project, as well as developing a 3-D model, which has since been submitted.

Guo and Li are in competition with five other regional winners across the US and will be informed of their national placement in early May.