Last Wednesday, TABC sent 10 students to the second annual CIJE Hackathon at YU, where students were charged with building smart devices to help people with various challenges. The theme of this year’s hackathon, environmental sustainability, was framed by Yosef Gillers, director of GrowTorah, and Seth Berkman, the energy policy advisor in the New York Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, whom the students heard from before being split into groups.

While one group focused on making it easier for people to recycle, the other focused on wasted water while waiting for showers to get hot. The recycling group built an automated recycling sorter that’s connected to a website to keep track of how much recycling the user has done. The water group built a device that lets a user select a shower water temperature from their phone or computer, and then sends a notification when the water reaches that temperature. A pressure sensor built into the floor of the shower would turn the water on once the user steps inside the shower, and the water would already be heated to the preferred temperature.

TABC’s students worked hard on their prototypes and presented them with poise and confidence. They were thrilled when it was announced that the shower device won first place in the water conservation category! The students returned to TABC proudly holding up their championship trophy and banner for all to see. They are excited to continue to apply what they’ve learned to fuel further innovation, and to continue the process of tikkun olam through their creativity and ingenuity! The TABC team is under the guidance of Aryeh Tiefenbrunn, STEM coordinator.