Homelessness being on the rise in LA has prompted residents to look for solutions.. Evelyn Gomez along with a group of students from the San Fernando High School have taken it upon themselves to make an impact. Even though they have no prior experience with engineering or invention, they have managed to construct a solar-powered tent that rolls up into a backpack.
The young would-be builders were recruited by DIY Girls, a non-profit organization that empowers teenage girls from low-income families in LA to pursue the fields of technology and engineering. Evelyn Gomez, executive director of DIY Girls, oversaw the project and helped where she could, but it was solely undertaken by the 12-girl team from inception to completion. Aided by YouTube videos and Google searches, the ladies worked together over the course of a year to produce the tent through a mixture of sewing, coding, and 3D printing.
The hard work paid off with the girls winning a $10,000 grant from the Lemelson-MIT program and will soon be presenting their invention at MITs EurekaFest soon.
