SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — After spending countless hours in a lab, the all-girl team of Joana Castro-Liggins, Desiree Chavez-Lopez, Shessly Gonzalez, and Shania Mancol is ready to introduce their creation to the public.
“It's crazy to think that regular girls like us could do something that spreads this far and this wide,“ Liggins said.
The girls are high school seniors at E3 Civic High School in Downtown, selected to participate in the Lemelson MIT Inventeam grant program.
This student-led team is one of only eight nationwide and the only team from San Diego chosen to participate.
They were given over $7,000 to create an invention that provides a safer environment for young people in social settings.
The girls chose to tackle sexual assault on college campuses.
“As women that's about to go to college soon, that's something that can happen to you or someone we know, so that's something we should definitely address,” Mancol said.
So, the team created a watch that allows people to test for drugs in drinks.
The watch works by removing the dropper from the watch, dipping it in the liquid, and dropping it on the testing strips. There will be a reaction after that. Then, a beep will determine if the drink was spiked.
The technology comes in when the watch detects the spiked drink. It will send a message to trusted contacts with the date, time and location where the drink was spiked.
As young women, the team said it’s important to make this watch accessible to everyone.
They say the watch would cost between $20 and $30, and testing strips would cost $10 a pack. Consumers can also customize the watch to their fashion tastes.
While the girls are hopeful companies will want to invest in this product, they said what they’ve learned throughout this process through the help of teachers makes this experience life-changing, especially for young women trying to make it in the STEM world.
“She reminds us that we belong in this space, and if we put our minds to it, we can do it," Liggins said. "And we're inventors as much as anyone else is. She's been really helpful to us.”
After graduation, the girls will head to MIT and make their presentation on Wednesday.
