South Texas ISD hosted its 10th annual Engineering Design and Development

MERCEDES, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The South Texas Independent School District Science Academy hosted its 10th annual Engineering Design and Development Conference.

The event took place on Friday at the South Texas ISD Science Academy, where 60 teams of seniors presented their projects to underclassmen, parents and 70 judges ranging from university faculty, graduate students, local school district representatives and more.

"Our seniors spend all year on the design, from creating the idea until all the way to building the prototype testing," said Nelly Houston from the Career and Education Department.

This year's theme project involved an Asthma Pump Flavor Enhancer and an Avalange Safety System. Some of the projects presented were aligned with the focuses of NASA HUNCH, a project-based learning program.

"It's really amazing to see, the kids choose their own projects, you see things that have to do with water filtration, others with automotive problems, we have some social economical type of projects and environmental science projects and these projects are very broad," Houston said.

The winning teams received cash scholarships from the PTSO parents and scholarships to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley College of Engineering Computer Science.