While most high school students are enjoying their summer vacation, a group of East Bay teens decided they would rather spend their free time in the classroom and try to perfect their latest invention.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has already given their invention a prestigious honor.

Last October, a team of 12 students from Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord was awarded a worth $7,500 to invent a technological solution to help people with limited hand mobility.

They produced an exoskeleton hand that can be controlled through a phone app.

And this app is very simple, it uses basic block coding," said Leqi Li who will attend UC Berkeley next fall, "We made the control convenient to use, with very easy access since everyone is using their phones."

This past June, Ygnacio Valley InvenTeam traveled to the East Coast to present their invention at MIT's EurekaFest, alongside eight other high schools in the country, and they were surprised the judges honored them with a prestigious award.

"This is the Golden Beaver Award, it is given by the MIT Lincoln lab and MIT School of Engineering," said engineering and robotics teacher Joseph Alvarico, who was recognized in 2024 as the California Teacher of the Year. "This is given to only one InvenTeam every year, and this year, we were the ones who they decided as the most technological advance invention."

Through the summer and into next year, the InvenTeam hope to go from proof-of-concept design to an actual wearable exoskeleton hand.

The invention is now patent pending, after a local office Foley IP Law, helped file their invention for a provisional patent, pro-bono.

On Friday, they will demonstrate the exoskeleton hand invention to the Rotary Club of Concord, who helped sponsor their trip to the East Coast.

• MIT
• Concord