High school students collaborate with MIT to invent the future

A reusable fire-extinguishing grenade and a pocket-size arsenic filter to purify drinking water are among proposed inventions by high school students participating in program with ties to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology of Cambridge.

The Lemelson-MIT program recognizes outstanding inventors and makes grants of up to $10,000 each to students and teachers at 20 high schools across the country.

Acton-Boxborough Regional High School came up with the fire extinguishing grenade, and the Bromfield School in Harvard worked on a memory stimulator for people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Unlike other initiatives, the Lemelson-MIT program is "about collaboration, not competition," said Joshua Schuler, the program's grant officer, in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)