Students design robots for Port Authority tunnels

NEW YORK (PIX11) – Some high school students are helping come up with improvements to your commute.

The Port Authority has sponsored the first-of-its-kind science fair, and months of work was on display inside One World Trade Center.

The first models would bring a new feature to the Holland and Lincoln tunnels along the elevated emergency catwalk.

Port Authority engineers are looking for the next generation of travel along that pathway.

Twenty student teams from New York City and New Jersey high schools presented designs and models to Port Authority engineers, staff and managers on Wednesday.

They began work at the beginning of the school year. The challenge was issued at the end of last year’s term: design something to travel along the tunnel catwalk and provide eyes and ears to tunnel staff.

“We were trying to create something to protect the city with safety in mind,” said Shelly Lazbin, a student from Staten Island.

Seth Wainer, of the Port Authority, pointed out that the agency has been working to be innovative on multiple fronts by creating an innovation lab.

“It was a good idea to engage with the next generation. We can do better as an agency,” Wainer said.

Some of the designs can reach motorists if there’s a problem. Students from Wayne High School in New Jersey entered two designs with one mounted above the catwalk.

“We put our best into the robot. If they can take something from it that can help, go for it,” said student Jackson Corbett.

The idea for the exhibition and working with area schools was itself an idea from the Port Authority’s innovation lab and innovation intern, Ann Jenica Jose.

“Having the opportunity to showcase their ideas to the Port Authority, that’s where the value is,” she said.

The judges included a Port Authority engineer and managers. The winner was the team from Bergen County Technical High School in Teterboro, New Jersey. It moves on mesh wheels powered by an internal rechargeable battery. It has two-way communication and an LED screen that can provide CPR instructions.

It carries and can deliver to the motorist a fire extinguisher, jumper cables, medical kit, and gasoline.

The team received a $750 cash prize for their school’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programming, along with the possibility of their design being adopted and built by the Port Authority.

Other science events are planned with area schools.

The Port Authority's catwalk project is still in the planning phase.