Arizona State University’s Healthy Urban Environments Initiative awarded an innovative team of science students from the Arizona College Prep-Erie Campus with a $50,000 grant for their work on a heat stroke prevention device. With funding, these 9th and 10th graders will build a prototype of the device to test on student athletes.

According to Rachna Nath, a science teacher for the ACP-Erie campus, she and the students have been working with Chandler Innovations on the project since August 2019. After testing the device, they will report all data collected to the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, of which HUE is a unit.

"I am extremely grateful to HUE for funding the wearable device for regulating heat stress and heatstroke," Nath said.

HUE Director Charles Redman said about the grant: "Given the alignment with the project and the overall goals of HUE, we are excited to be able to fund the project."

HUE is a solutions-focused research, policy and technology incubator. As such, HUE rapidly develops, tests and deploys heat-mitigation and air-quality improvement strategies and technologies. In collaboration with practitioners and community members, HUE aims to create a healthy city and population across Maricopa County.

This collaboration includes younger generations. As Diana White, CEO of Chandler Innovations, said, "Great innovation is coming from the next generations."