New Design High School

Projects 2023

Slick Leather

Finalist Team

Tamia Wilson, Kayla Robinson, Kelly Pichasaca, Juliana Orellana

The team proposes an alternative to leather using coffee grounds, oil, glycerol, and alginate. After several experiments, the team created an early prototype.

Seashion Wear

Finalist Team

Jacob Paredes, Manuel Taborda, Heaven Luciano, Noel Ambrosio, Erjiaqi Chen

Seashion Wear collects New York’s invasive seaweeds and turns them into a waterproof fabric for the manufacture of urban clothing. The team experimented with early prototypes using wakame, a species of kelp from the Pacific.

Okra Wash

Ariah Swift, Sara Sofia Monroy Vargas

Okra Wash uses the polysaccharides in the vegetable okra to help remove microplastics from water. By combining these polysaccharides with laundry detergent, the microplastics in laundry are formed into clumps that can be easily removed rather than polluting larger bodies of water.

Human Health

Shazia, Sofia, Evelyn

This team explored solutions for improving the health of individuals living in NYC through reimagined composting bins, hydroponics, and community gardening systems.

Salvaged Wellness

Bintou, Hongbin, Angie, Jeslynn, Yurico

Salvaged wellness is a unisex beauty/ wellness product that is made from upcycled natural ingredients such as coffee grounds and orange peels. These ingredients are mixed with other natural ingredients and made into body scrubs, soaps, makeup, and other products.

Sara Heymont teaches high school chemistry and makerspace courses. With her art and theatre design background, a focus of Sara’s curriculum has always been on blending science and design in meaningful ways. Her current curriculum work focuses on expanding this interdisciplinary work to engage students in engineering practices by incorporating problem-solving through use of an engineering design cycle, and tackling real problems students see in their lives and the world.

Joytrese George is a science educator working in NYC. Prior to teaching, Joytrese worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in clinical research, and with non-profit youth programs in the Washington, DC area. Joytrese was awarded a Master Teaching Fellowship with the prestigious Math For America; where she collaborates with other STEM educators to promote professional growth and continued learning. She has also facilitated domestic and international traveling research trips, taking students outside of the typical classroom and into a world of exploration in sustainability and conservation. Additionally, she was a STEM-Ed Innovator fellow, working to foster empathy and antiracism in the classroom atmosphere. Joytrese holds a Bachelors in Biology from Howard University, and a Masters in Education from St. John’s University. Joytrese is currently a Doctoral Student in Educational Leadership and Policy at American University (DC). Joytrese loves culinary arts, home decor, and discovery through travel.