Ahead of the May 6 release of Captain America: Civil War, Walt Disney Studios, Marvel Studios, Dolby Laboratories, Synchrony Bank, Broadcom MASTERS and Science & Entertainment Exchange (a program of National Academy of Sciences) announce the Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War – Girls Reforming the Future Challenge Grand Prize Winner and recipient of an internship at Marvel Studios.
Maia Dua, from West Sacramento, California, was selected from five finalists as the Grand Prize Winner, and will take part in a week-long internship at Marvel Studios. Over 1,000 young women from across the U.S. took on the challenge to use science and technology to create a project that would create positive change in the world.
For her entry, Dua developed a robot that is a cost-effective and durable alternative to a seeing eye dog. The self-propelled, echo-locating “Seeing Eye-Bot” is made of readily accessible materials, putting it within financial reach of more people who need it. Dua’s robot is designed to require minimal maintenance and to function for at least seven years.
During the internship, Dua will learn firsthand how STEM skills are used in innovative and creative ways to produce globally recognized films and characters. At the end of the week, Dua will join the four other finalists — Holly Riepling from Colorado Springs, Janie Kim from San Diego, Margaret Fleck from Emmaus, PA and Vivian Qiang from Marlboro, NJ — to inspire other young girls in a special live global webinar hosted by Broadcom MASTERS. The finalists will discuss how they used STEM skills to create their projects, and Due will share insights from her internship experience.
