Emma and Sarah Simmons of Carroll Valley, PA were named Grand Champions at the 2024 Pennsylvania Governor’s STEM Competition held in Harrisburg on May 8. The 14-year-old 9th grade sisters designed and constructed a working biomedical prototype that measures pulmonary functions and streams the data live to physicians during remote Telemedicine visits. The prototype holds the potential to broaden access to healthcare, especially for those who have the least access, e.g. those with disabilities, low incomes, and people living in rural areas where there are few doctors. At the competition, they held a live demonstration for a panel of judges.
“We were thrilled and honored to win this year’s Governor’s STEM competition,” Sarah said. “And we hope that this highlights the importance of STEM education, especially for young women like us,” Emma concluded. The sisters plan to apply for a U.S patent this summer for their invention.
The 10th annual event was sponsored by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s office. High School teams from across the state competed for the top honor.
Emma and Sarah are not new to STEM competitions. They won the Grand Championship award at the 2004 York-Adams Science and Engineering Fair this past March. Last year they won first place in the Biomedical Engineering category at the 2023 Frederick County STEM Fair. In 2022, they won top awards at the Broadcom Masters National STEM competition.
They are currently preparing for two additional national level engineering competitions coming up this June in Michigan and Virginia.
Emma and Sarah are homeschooled by their parents, Dr. Jeffrey Simmons and Dr. Lisa McLeod-Simmons.
Photo Caption: Ninth graders Emma (left) and Sarah (right) Simmons were awarded the Grand Champion award at the recent PA Governor’s STEM competition.