SAR High School is thrilled to announce that three exceptional 11th-grade students, Rinat K.-R., Lia T. and Oriyan W., have been honored as finalists in the prestigious CIJE Tank competition at this year’s Innovation Day. Competing among hundreds of innovative projects, their invention, “The Breadwinner,” earned them a coveted spot as one of only 11 finalists, showcasing their exceptional teamwork, ingenuity, engineering and comprehensive market research. This remarkable achievement has secured them the opportunity to present their project to a panel of esteemed industry leaders, with the potential to receive professional legal and technical assistance in filing a strong provisional patent application.
Innovation Day, organized annually by the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE), marks the culmination of a year of intensive STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) learning. This event, held at the American Dream in East Rutherford, New Jersey, gathers over 1,400 Jewish students from across the nation to present their innovative projects. CIJE’s programs span more than 175 Jewish schools, impacting over 45,000 students each year. These programs aim to equip students with critical thinking skills and hands-on experience in cutting-edge technology, ensuring they are prepared for future challenges.
The stellar team of students developed The Breadwinner, a revolutionary device designed to transform the challah baking experience. Using break beam sensors, The Breadwinner senses when the challah dough has risen and activates a sound and light alarm to alert you when the dough is ready. Additionally, it employs heaters and DC motors to evenly distribute optimal heat, allowing the dough to rise at the fastest pace. Their market research showed that existing bread-making machines are expensive and complicated, while The Breadwinner offers a more affordable and user-friendly solution. They surveyed 28 students and faculty at SAR High School, discovering that many struggle with bread-making, and over 80% were interested in their product as a solution. As per their engaging and fun website, the three co-founders brought their unique skills to the project: Lia T. a master coder and baker; Rinat K.-R., a professional engineer and bread critic; and Oriyan W., a prototype designer who helps her mom make challah.
The Breadwinner has already garnered enthusiastic testimonials from the community. “Wow, I spent about 20 minutes playing around with the Breadwinner and can’t believe how cool it is. This is truly life-changing,” said Kira R., a proud weekly challah baker. Debbie Tuchman, a proud mom of three and weekly challah maker, shared, “I usually spend my whole workday running back and forth checking on my dough. This is going to improve my work productivity so much. Will definitely buy.” Upon hearing the news about the award, the team of intrepid students said, “We are so incredibly excited to showcase our invention and we appreciate the support you have shown us all year! We can’t wait to work hard and ‘rise and seize the day!’”
The entire school, and especially their design engineering teachers, Jon Martin, Felix Caso and Max Rifkin, are immensely proud of Rinat, Lia, and Oriyan and look forward to their continued success in future endeavors.
