Appalachian Power continues to demonstrate its commitment to workforce development through meaningful student engagement and career mentorship. One standout example is Rachael T.
Rachael began her junior year at Nitro High School with real-world experience to apply, thanks to an internship under Sr. Project Coordinator Amanda M.'s guidance. While her internship through West Virginia's Education Alliance included tours of APCo facilities and opportunities to hear from different Business Unit Leaders, the time spent with a Distribution crew sparked an idea.
Tucker shared her experience with her teacher, Adam Wolfe, and six fellow students when the class brainstormed on a problem unique and relevant to their community for which they could invent an engineered solution. If accepted by a nationwide competition called Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam, their invention would ultimately be presented and demonstrated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
"Our team recognized the perilous work that linemen in our area were exposed to due to our mountainous terrain," Wolfe said. "So, we focused on an invention to make that work safer without compromising efficiency."
It wasn't long before other faculty members caught wind of Wolfe's engineering class hard at work. One of the school's counselors, a family friend of Evan T., transmission line crew supervisor, called Tucker to gauge his interest in guiding the students. There was no hesitation from the father of three future Nitro High School graduates, and he quickly recruited Tyler S., transmission line manager and Nitro High School graduate, to join.
After a handful of face-to-face meetings with Tucker and Smith to discuss ideas for improving safety in the line industry, the class had their invention. The Lemelson-MIT Program granted eight teams across the country $7,500 to develop a prototype of their invention, with Nitro High School being one of the selected.
"The invention the students were looking into was a fall arrest tool that improved safety for linemen," Smith said. "They were working on a prototype harness with sensors to ensure proper clipping or snapping was initiated before climbing and/or bucket work. It was similar to a vehicle seat belt, where someone could not start the car until the seat belt was snapped."
Aptly called "The Mountain Climbers," the team presented their invention on Saturday, Feb. 1, to Lemelson-MIT Program administrators during the Mid-Grant Technical Review. The team continued the invention process, culminating at EurekaFest™, an event featuring eight other teams at MIT on June 12.
"The willingness of all the different parties to see the kids succeed is what made this work. Everyone asked, 'What can we do to help these kids thrive?'" Amanda shared.
To date, 17 U.S. patents have been issued for projects stemming from InvenTeams.
With deep roots in West Virginia communities and a forward-thinking approach to talent development, Appalachian Power is helping shape the next generation of innovators, engineers and energy professionals—one student at a time.