ACP students have earned quite a few prestigious awards for their academic accomplishments over the years, but it is always exciting to celebrate a new accomplishment for a student. One such student is JT Mulvihill, who has been working on a special project for his eighth-grade class, as he designed a Football helmet lining that would add extra protection during the impact of a tackle. JT is incredibly passionate about his project and has been selected as one of 30 finalists in the 2020 Virtual Broadcom Masters Science Competition. Being the only student in Arizona to be recognized for this prestigious accomplishment, we asked him a few questions about what he did and how he did it!

Q. What made you want to do a project that was closely related to football?

A. I had a very bad retinal detachment that was partially caused by the impact that is in football that led to my eye getting banged around and then eventually caused my retina to detach. Knowing how that felt, I wanted to try and prevent anybody else from having the same injury caused to them.

Q. Was there a lot of research available about your topic or did you have to do a lot of digging yourself to find research?

A. It was interesting because there was information available for sources; however, I needed to dive deeper to get more information about the actual experiment and how that would work, more-so than just what the project was about.

Q. Did the process of actually designing the lining for the helmet go smoothly or were there a few bumps in the road?

A. The design itself only took a couple of hours to make, but it was very tedious and I had to restart once or twice.

Q. How did it feel to be nationally recognized for a project which you were so passionate about?

A. I never thought I would be nationally recognized; however, I am super excited about getting recognized and look forward to what is to come in the future. 

Seeing the drive and determination in students is exciting to see and it spreads from classroom to classroom. We cannot wait to see what JT brings to ACP Erie during his high school years. Congratulations to JT Mulvihill! And remember to strive for the impossible and be extraordinary, Knights!