Fifteen teams from area schools put their creativity and critical thinking to the test Thursday during the sixth annual Altec Innovation Challenge, held at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College.
According to Altec, participants in the challenge are tasked with “developing innovative solutions to real-world problems that positively impact their communities.”
“The idea for the Innovation Challenge was really to just continue to spur the idea around technology and STEM in our younger generations,” said Altec Elizabethtown General Manager Daniel Flory. “We’ve been in our communities for a long time. We’ve been in E-Town since 1997. We want to continue to invest in our communities so that we can have a great place to work for our families and see our communities grow.”
North Hardin High School’s team which consisted of students Michael Logan, Josiah Smith, Gabriel Roche-Melendez, Ryan Johnson, and Amber Kirksey claimed first place for their project titled “Under 10 Seconds”. With their teacher Clyde Grant, the team “designed a mechanical device that secures a classroom door in less than 10 seconds, and remains dependable even during high stress, power failures, or situations where technology may not respond as expected.”
“When we had lockdowns last year at North Hardin High School, that was a real life scenario, and the students that were in Mr. Grant’s classroom, they used this device and they said ‘can I go back to working? I feel secure, I feel safe,’” said North Hardin student Michael Logan. “So you take that and you multiply that throughout the district, and now every student in our school has that security to know they are protected in the worst-case scenario.”
The winning team received $10,000 to implement their project in the spring of 2026. Educators interested in learning more may email etowninnovationchallenge@altec.com.