Every year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-Lemelson program holds a convention in which schools wishing to participate, propose an idea for an invention or an improvement on an existing invention. In the end, InvenTeams in 18 schools across the U.S are given $10,000 to create a prototype of their invention and present it in June in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to present their invention at the convention.

Among these 18 schools this year, Felix Varela has been chosen. Ximena Toro (12th) and Evan Kalina (11th) are the team leaders. The team consists of Alexis Mesa (11th), Mauricio Salah (11th), Andres Sanchez (12th), Nancy Foen (12th), Alejandro Mesa (11th), Maria Chicuen (12th), and Jorge Fernandez (12th).

The team proposed an idea to creating a CPAP Alert (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) system for people who suffer from sleep apnea. Toro was the one to originally come up with the CPAP Alert idea, an invention that would help her father who suffered from sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea affects 12 million Americans, causing people to stop breathing for 10-30 seconds, at times happening 20-30 times an hour. Infants are also affected by “Blue Baby Syndrome” a defect in the heart which can cause failure, and the skin of the child turns blue or purple from lack of oxygen.

“My father uses a device that throws oxygen to his brain,” said Toro, “In the middle of the night he would unconsciously take it off.”

The mask prevents the individual from having frequent breathing pauses while sleeping. The CPAP Alert, alerts the person sleeping if they unconsciously remove the mask. The CPAP Alert does this by detecting a temperature difference which then sets off the alarm. The CPAP Alert could possibly help babies suffering from apnea.

“I enjoy helping people and society,” said Kalina. “I feel that this invention has a lot of potential to do that.”

Each member of the group has their own duties and responsibilities. Alexis Mesa is in charge of the circuit components and searches for grants for the trip to Massachusetts. Alejandro Mesa is the webmaster for product display, information, and database work. Kalina is in charge of proposals and makes sure the project is getting done along with Toro, “we complement each other” said Kalina. The team also gets help from Toro’s father who provides the team with technical support and lectures.

Varela’s InvenTeam will present their project during the InvenTeam’s Odyssey, an event at MIT in Cambridge, next June. “I have a hard time speaking in public,” said Toro, who came from Colombia four years ago, and sees this as a challenge. “I never thought it’d be chosen.”