A Central Florida teenager was the big winner at the Bright Ideas STEM for Today's Youth finals competition, organized and hosted Friday by Bright House Networks.
Ashley Chico, a 16-year-old sophomore at Lake Highland Preparatory School, competed against students from across the country who were challenged to come up with innovative ideas that would positively affect society.
Ashley's idea, called "Registrarme," is a tablet program that would allow people who cannot read or write in English to register at a hospital or medical facility by simply responding verbally to prompts. She says that would eliminate the need for an interpreter.
"I was so nervous, because I thought they were going to ask hard questions and be kind of mean," Ashley said, referring to the competition's judges. "But they were actually really friendly, and they really enjoyed my product, which gave me a big confidence boost."
Ashley said she hopes to continue to develop the technology and offer it to medical institutions worldwide.
As the winner of the competition, Ashley will work with leading innovation firm Fahrenheit 212 in New York for 11 weeks to develop a virtual prototype and business plan, and bring Ashley's bright idea closer to reality.
Bright House Networks is the parent company of News 13 in Central Florida and Bay News 9 in Tampa Bay.