Several Mars Area Centennial School students participating in WQED’s Design Lives Here Challenge culminating event, held March 12 at Franklin Regional Intermediate School.

Throughout the school year, the students completed three investigative challenges and, for the final event, were asked to invent and pitch a new product or one that improves upon an existing product. The team of sixth-graders Ellie Kurnocik, Hannah Nam, Kristin Sadhu and Chaarvi Yogesh earned first place for their invention, a multi-purpose surface cleaner that “wipes, scrapes, and dries all in one sweep.”

In addition, the students joined their peers from other participating schools throughout the Pittsburgh Region to complete two challenges — the first to construct a catapult that could launch a Velcro ball onto a target; and the second, to build a boat sturdy enough to hold as many pennies as possible.

Design Lives Here, an educational outreach based on the Design Squad Nation reality-based television program, is an engineering initiative meant to “inspire the next generation of engineers.”

For more information, visit www.wqed.org/education/designliveshere/.