Regional Winners of 2016 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Competition Seek to Change the World by Re-Imagining Today’s Technology for the Future

Toshiba and National Science Teachers Association Announce 24
Regional Winners

ARLINGTON, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
announced today the regional winners of the 24th annual
ExploraVision program. The world’s largest K-12 science competition,
ExploraVision is designed to build problem-solving, critical-thinking
and collaboration skills emphasized in the Next Generation Science
Standards
(NGSS). Some of this year’s innovative projects
include a scanning device to detect ticks, an advanced military
camouflage uniform that blends body temperatures and colors into
surroundings, and a bionic eye implant to improve sight. The 24
regional winning teams
will advance to the national phase of the
competition and have a chance to win $10,000 U.S. Series EE Savings
Bonds (at maturity) and other great prizes. The regional winning teams
will also receive a Toshiba laptop for their school, and each member of
the team will receive a Toshiba Encore™ Tablet.

ExploraVision participants are challenged to provide a glimpse into the
future by imagining what technology might be like in 20 years. Students
proposed ideas for new technology based on challenges or limitations of
what already exists and simulated real scientific research to outline
how they would test their ideas. In the national phase of the
competition, students will further illustrate their innovative concepts
by building web pages and creating short videos to communicate their
ideas to the public.

“The ExploraVision program challenges student participants to overcome
boundaries created by society’s most pressing issues and visualize
exceptional means for resolution using science and creativity,” said Mr.
Fumio Otani, Chairman & CEO, Toshiba America, Inc. “The ExploraVision
program was created in partnership with NSTA to recognize students who
are at the forefront of scientific thinking, and as a company that
prides itself on innovation, we’re proud to support future scientists,
innovators and engineers of the next generation.”

Everyday Innovations

A common theme among the winning regional projects was technological
innovation. Two third graders from Morristown, N.J. brought a special
touch to digital memories with the Personal IPF, a personal interactive
picture frame. The Personal IPF uses artificial intelligence technology
to allow people in photographs to speak, move, and interact. A
Lagrangeville, N.Y., team advanced the way smells are perceived with the
VISOR, a neuro-olfactory device. VISOR uses electrodes positioned over
the olfactory bulb to sense neural signals triggered by smell. The
signals are encoded and transferred to a distant VISOR where it is
translated into electric waveforms. This breakthrough could overcome
shortcomings in prior technology and have profound impacts on education,
entertainment, and e-commerce.

Environmental Advances

Several of the regional winners focused on the environment and imagined
ways to preserve nature. A team of third graders from Duluth, Ga.
invented Bacteria Saves the World, a balloon filter that prevents
dangerous chemicals from entering the lungs and causing harm, to prevent
the inhalation of potentially harmful chemicals from traffic and air
pollution. A Silver Spring, Md., high school team created BioBatteries
to promote clean energy storage. As an alternative to traditional
batteries that use metallic compounds, BioBatteries use enzymes to
convert cheap and readily available sugars into energy.

The Future of Healthcare

Many of the winning teams imagined innovations in healthcare that could
aid both medical professionals and the general public. An Edmond, Okla.,
group of third graders invented the Strep Throat Test to make doctor
visits a little less frequent. By simply coughing into a tissue, the
device can determine if the person has strep throat. And a group of 6th
graders from Houston, Texas, want to cure paralysis that affects
millions of people. After discovering that crayfish can turn blood cells
into neurons, the students envisioned a way to harvest the
neuron-regenerating attributes from crayfish stem cells and safely merge
them with human stem cells.

“I am pleased that this innovative program continues to inspire and
prepare the next generation of students and citizens who are savvy in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects,” said
Dr. David Evans, NSTA Executive Director. “It’s rewarding to see
students of all ages use their ingenuity and innovation to envision
solutions to real-world problems around them. We congratulate the
regional winning teams on their impressive work and commend the
educators and mentors for supporting their students’ effort to explore
science.”

On to the National Phase

The 24 regional winning teams will advance to the national phase of the
competition and in April 26th, four first- and four second-place
national winning teams will be announced. Each first-place national
winning team member will receive a $10,000 U.S. Series EE Savings Bond
(at maturity). Each members of second-place national winning teams will
receive a $5,000 U.S. Series EE Savings Bond (at maturity). Canadian
winners will receive Canada bonds purchased for the equivalent issue
price in Canadian dollars. All first- and second-place national winners
will also receive an expense-paid trip for themselves, a parent
or/guardian, their teacher and their mentor, to Washington, D.C., for a
gala awards weekend in June 2016. Students will meet with members of
Congress during a visit to Capitol Hill and display their winning ideas
at a Science Showcase. The Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision weekend will
conclude with a gala awards banquet and ceremony to formally recognize
the winners for their creativity and accomplishments.

Since its inception in 1992, more than 360,000 students from across the
United States and Canada have participated in the ExploraVision program.
The program helps students expand their imagination and have fun while
developing an interest in science, technology, engineering and math
(STEM) education at an early age.

For more information, visit www.exploravision.org
or e-mail exploravision@nsta.org.
Follow ExploraVision on Twitter at @ToshibaInnovate
or join the ExploraVision Facebook Fan Page at www.Facebook.com/ToshibaInnovation.

###

About Toshiba

Toshiba
Corporation
, a Fortune Global 500 company, channels
world-class capabilities in advanced electronic and electrical product
and systems into five strategic business domains: Energy &
Infrastructure, Community Solutions, Healthcare Systems & Services,
Electronic Devices & Components, and Lifestyles Products & Services.
Guided by the principles of The Basic Commitment of the Toshiba Group,
“Committed to People, Committed to the Future”, Toshiba promotes global
operations towards securing “Growth Through Creativity and Innovation”,
and is contributing to the achievement of a world in which people
everywhere live in safe, secure and comfortable society. Founded in
Tokyo in 1875, today’s Toshiba is at the heart of a global network of
over 580 consolidated companies employing over 199,000 people worldwide,
with annual sales surpassing 6.6 trillion yen (US$55 billion).
Toshiba
America, Inc.
is the holding company for five Toshiba operating
companies in the United States and employs nearly 20,000 people in North
America.

Toshiba’s North-America based companies and some of their chief
products are as follows:
Toshiba
America Electronic Components, Inc
. (Semiconductors, Flash
Memory-Based Storage Solutions, LCD, custom chips, and Hard Disk
Drives);
Toshiba
America Information Systems, Inc
. (Tablets, Laptop Computers,
Telephony Products, Flat Panel LCD TVs, and portable products);
Toshiba
America Business Solutions, Inc.
(Copiers, Facsimiles, Printers
and Digital Signage);
Toshiba
International Corporation
(Motors, Motor Controls, Power
Electronics, Power Generation Equipment, Automation);
Toshiba
America Medical Systems, Inc.
(Computed Tomography, Magnetic
Resonance, X-ray and Ultrasound);
Toshiba
America Nuclear Energy Corporation
(Advanced Boiling Water
Nuclear Reactors);
Toshiba
America Foundation
(Supports science and mathematics education
across the United States) and
Toshiba
of Canada, Ltd.
(Made up of four operating divisions).

About NSTA

The Arlington, VA-based National
Science Teachers Association
(NSTA) is the largest
professional organization in the world promoting excellence and
innovation in science teaching and learning for all. NSTA’s current
membership includes approximately 55,000 science teachers, science
supervisors, administrators, scientists, business and industry
representatives, and others involved in science education.

Contacts

Ketchum
Devon Horowitz, 202-835-9410
Devon.Horowitz@Ketchum.com
or
National
Science Teachers Association
Cindy Workosky, 703-312-9248
cworkosky@nsta.org

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