"Amanda Shayna Ahteck of Holmdel, New Jersey, found scientific inspiration while crocheting under her desk during physics class. She crocheted stainless steel conductive thread in a chain of hooked loops to create soft, stretchable sensors that mimic tendons in the hand. Ahteck hopes her wearable Bluetooth device will promote a more seamless adoption of technologies like virtual reality and help visually or physically impaired users interact more naturally with computers."

Photographed by Dina Litovsky for National Geographic

midiKEY - a proposed wireless input system based on a novel stretch sensor technology

Built on my kitchen table, bedroom floor, and research class bench during senior year of high school. Conductive thread crocheted into strands that change resistance when the geometry is deformed by stretching. Input from each sensor's stretched or unstretched state is decoded into an alphanumeric character. Full paper here.

Microcontroller board: Adafruit Feather Bluefruit LE 32u4

Awards

• International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) Finalist - 2019 (click for abstract)
• Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) Top 300 - 2019

Featured in National Geographic November 2019 issue “Women: A Century of Change” section for girls in science https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/girls-in-science-feature

Images taken at various points in the prototyping process.

(left) Designing the overall layout and connections of the device using string.

(middle) Version 1 prototype using the Arduino Lilypad e-textile board inside a wrist cuff, with conductive thread sensors tied on.

(right) Display of Version 1 device on a 3D printed articulated hand model.

Me, at the Delaware Valley Science Fair winner's poster session at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. This project was the engineering category first place and overall 12th grade gold medalist, earning me a trip to Phoenix, AZ for ISEF in May 2019 and a place as the first research medalist for my high school.

Portrait by Dina Litovsky for National Geographic. Images used with permission.