Engineering team selected as finalists in Samsung competition

An engineering team from Downtown College Prep Alum Rock High School (DCP) in East San Jose will represent the State of California in the finals of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition in New York March 18.

The high school team’s project titled “Don’t Waste A Drop” was selected from among 300 other projects statewide.

The project is a gray water system that can reduce household water consumption by more than 20 percent.

The system is easy to install and requires only a small investment by homeowners.

Officials with Samsung Solve for Tomorrow selected DCP’s project from among 51 state winners.

Competition officials will select five national winners from the 15.

The schools representing the five winning teams will each receive a $120,000 technology grant.

Nine students, the engineering teacher/team coach and the school’s principal will attend the competition and spend six days in the New York area where the students will visit six universities.

Those include Columbia University, New York University, Fordham University, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania.

More than 90 percent of students at DCP are Hispanic.