Tents for the homeless fueled by girl power and solar power

Source:
Mashable.com, "All-girl engineer team invents solar-powered tent for the homeless"

​​An inspiring group of ten teenage girls from San Fernando High School in California didn't have the money to help the many homeless people they encountered on their way to school, but they knew they wanted to help somehow.

​The ingenious group came up with the idea for a solar-powered tent that transforms into a rolling backpack. With the help of DIY Girls, an organization that helps girls from low-income families learn about engineering, math, and science, they were awarded a $10,000 grant from the Lemelson-MIT Program to create their invention. 

​Guided by their mentor, Evelyn, and increasingly engaging in their own independent research, the girls learned the skills they needed to know to design, solder, stitch, and 3-D print their invention. And yesterday, with funds raised from the community, they traveled to MIT in Cambridge, MA to present their invention at a young inventors' conference.

See the article for many more photos of the girls in the process of making and testing their invention and for anecdotes about what this experience has meant to them and their dreams for the future.