Students at the California Academy of Mathematics and Science (CAMS), located in the Long Beach Unified School District, recently earned a $10,000 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam® grant to create its invention of a child drowning prevention device.

CAMS is one of only eight high schools across the country to receive the grant funded by the Lemelson Foundation and administered by the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Grants are given to teams of high school students who are tasked with identifying a real-world problem and developing a technological invention as a solution.

The invention by CAMS students, known as the Swim Monitor, is a wearable device that will work with an external smartphone app to detect and notify when someone is at risk of drowning. The device is designed for use in pools or at beaches and is intended for use by parents with children ages six and up.

“With its sensors, the Swim Monitor regularly monitors the child's oxygen levels and pulse readings while they swim,” states the CAMS InvenTeam website. “When irregularities are detected, indicating the child is in potential danger, the Swim Monitor sends an alert to the app and deploys the onboard wrist-mounted flotation device to keep the child buoyant until help arrives.”

The 2021–2022 InvenTeams are comprised of students, teachers and community mentors who pursue year-long invention projects involving creative thinking, problem-solving, and hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The invention projects were selected by a panel consisting of university professors, inventors, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, college students, and InvenTeam alumni. The final invention prototypes will be presented at EurekaFest™ —in June 2022 at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.