Rickards rising senior makes a splash with water purifier invention
Submitted photo
By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook staff writer
Sabrina Hu’s biology teacher Dr. Paula Hall didn’t have any doubt that she could invent something impressive that she’d take it to the finish line.
Never mind that all Hu, a rising senior at Rickards High, had was an idea how to purify water. She began working on the project last summer and despite hitting a few snags managed to come up with the purifier that she calls “Crown Cap.”
“She is so passionate about this project and her overall engineering goals of clean water that she wasn’t going to let one thing hold her down,” Hall said. “It’s just who she is.
“Sabrina is one of the top students in her class. She is just a hard-working curious, intelligent young lady.”
Submitted photo
Hu’s curiosity for the project stems from the invention of a flashlight powered by heat in a human’s hand by a 15-year-old. Already a work in progress by the time Hall notified her that she could enter the project into the Spellman High Voltage Electronics Clean Tech Competition, Hu didn’t hesitate.
The virtual event drew more than 300 competitors from around the world. Hu made it to the field of 10 finalists in her category.
The concept of a solar powered bottle cap seemed simple enough to work but Hu encountered issues like making the power button functional. She found the answers in the cap of an eraser.
Hu’s curiosity for the project stems from the invention of a flashlight powered by heat in a human’s hand by a 15-year-old. Already a work in progress by the time Hall notified her that she could enter the project into the Spellman High Voltage Electronics Clean Tech Competition, Hu didn’t hesitate.
The virtual event drew more than 300 competitors from around the world. Hu made it to the field of 10 finalists in her category.
The concept of a solar powered bottle cap seemed simple enough to work but Hu encountered issues like making the power button functional. She found the answers in the cap of an eraser.
The button at the side of the top that fits onto a clear cup turns on a UVC light that is powered by a small solar panels.
In all, she invested $56 to come up with a simple way that she believes could benefit countries with poor water quality. She figures it could even be used in Florida when hurricanes make it difficult to find usable water
“It could be a game changer for someone living in a developing nation,” Hu said. “This is something that can help purify the water and it uses a solar panel so if they don’t have electricity it’s not a problem.”
On the way to getting this far with her invention, Hu won 19 championships in regional competitions. But the COVID-19 pandemic forced cancelation of the national contest.
So when the email came to Hall with an invitation to the international contest, Hu was ready.
The completion wasn’t easy. Her competitors included budding scientist that came from school with more resources than Rickard.
Hu made every second of the 15 minutes she had to present her project before a three-judge panel count.
“I figured I didn’t have anything to lose,” she said. “Honestly I didn’t think I would get far.
“I felt extremely privileged to compete with them and come out of the competition more confident in my project.”
