FloodGate’s team is composed of four students: George, Shubhan, Sumedh and Reichen, aged 17-18 years, who are all attending the same school, taking the same classes, and participating in a local club. It’s safe to say that this team works well together - the evidence of which is their locally-inspired flooding solution that has the potential for wide and scalable global impact.

The idea to tackle the widespread issue of flooding came from having experienced this catastrophe first hand in their local area of North Carolina. After witnessing the damage caused to their community’s property and lives alike, they discovered that each year, over 240 million people face the devastating impacts of floods worldwide. They began to wonder why there was not an accessible flood prediction and detection system available for use, sparking the first ideas that would become FloodGate.

Combining their diverse interests and skills, ranging from computational science to neuroscience, they built the first concept of their solution. FloodGate’s offering is two-fold, using advanced computational technologies to predict flooding via an interactive 3D flood model, which can subsequently be used to support local governments, agencies and individuals as they plan efficient evacuation and relief operations. Their cost-effective and easy-to-use interface, which will soon become available via an app, can empower at-risk communities with timely and accessible information like never before.

When thinking of a name for their solution, the team chose FloodGate as they represent a computational gate, blocking the flow of water. Speaking about how their technology has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives, team member Sumedh explained that they “wanted to come up with a name that really explains the power and potential that our solution has.”

When reflecting on the experience of The Earth Prize, the team agree that seeing the innovations that other students their age are creating across the globe is both “mind blowing” and “wonderful”, and has pushed them to “change the way we think about our project, make edits and push it to be even better” within their own individual goals. How would they sum up the experience? “Unparalled”, says Sumedh, “The opportunities that you’re going to get from competing in this competition are just going to drive your passion and your project to the next level.”