Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz (Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach) and State Sen. Roxanne Persaud (Canarsie, Mill Basin, Bergen Beach, East New York, Brownsville, Sheepshead Bay) today helped judge pitches from nearly 30 Brooklyn high school students on their entrepreneurial ideas in urban food and farming technology.
The event was the culmination of AT&T’s and Kingsborough Community College (KCC)’s Brooklyn Science Innovation Initiative. For the past five weeks, students worked on the KCC Urban Farm, studying the science of nutrition and real-world applications of urban farming.
Using their firsthand experience, the students developed their own environmentally sustainable business concepts, which they pitched to Cymbrowitz and Persaud, along with Robin White, Area Manager, External Affairs at AT&T New York and KCC Dean of Faculty Dr. Cathy Leaker in a Shark Tank-style format.
“AT&T is proud to play this role in preparing the next generation of coders, engineers – and even urban farmers,” said Marissa Shorenstein, President, East Region, AT&T. “Along with giving these students the unique opportunity to work on a farm in the heart of Brooklyn, this year’s Brooklyn Science Innovation Initiative showed them that STEM informs so many aspects of our daily lives, down to the food we eat. Our hope is that this summer’s experiences will inspire these students to continue to pursue the study of STEM – in any form – throughout college and careers.”
“Students in this exciting AT&T STEM partnership have been presented with a unique opportunity to expand their career horizons,” said KCC President Farley Herzek. “They can take what they have learned on the Urban Farm and in the classroom, develop entrepreneurial ventures, and find out unique ways in which their innovations can impact how we grow food. AT&T continues to be a welcome partner in providing great career opportunities for students.”
By bringing these high school students onto a college campus for the first time, the initiative also aimed to present higher education – and the continuing study of STEM – as an exciting and relevant reality, rather than just a lofty dream.
This summer, the projects designed by the students participating in the Brooklyn Science Innovation Initiative included the following:
- Community Composter: a solar-powered compost bin that manages decomposition of food scraps and browns into healthy and nutritious compost for community use.
- Connected Roots-app: a skill-sharing app for beginner and professional farmers to share information about crop planning, pest and disease management, tool and farm equipment information, and community events.
- Recycled Hydroponics: a hydroponic system that uses recycled materials to build the growing structures that hold water and soil-less growing medium for plants.
- YUMMY!-app: an app that educates the public on nutrition and promotes inexpensive and healthy shopping.
- My Little Farm: window gardening kits for children that incorporate music and art to teach organic farming, creativity and healthy eating.
- SOA-app: an irrigation app for the busy homeowner designed to calculate how much water is required for any plant or vegetable garden.
- Rinno: a company that specializes in reusing plastic from the oceans by turning it into fabric.
