A team of Utah high schoolers has been recognized for inventing a potentially breakthrough device that removes microplastic particles from bodies of water, according to the Midvale Journal. 

For their creation, the team received second place in the 2025 Tim Draper High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge, earning $5,000. The group also won the online award, raking in an additional $500, per the Midvale Journal.  

However, the team of young entrepreneurs has no intention of stopping there. They are now looking to partner with others to bring their product to market. 

"Once we get partnerships, we can look into the overall technological aspects of the systems," said Sashwath Narayanan, a student at Hillcrest High School, per the Midvale Journal. "We plan to create this into a real business in the future, if we can get enough initial capital." 

Hillcrest High School is located in Midvale, Utah, about 10 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Building the award-winning prototype did not come easy. The young inventors went through several versions of their creation before landing on the final design, which uses a high-speed suction pump and a semi-permeable membrane to separate microplastics from water and neutralize them. As part of their research-and-development process, they tested their creations in a bathtub. 

Over time, the team grew, as they took on additional students, each contributing their own area of expertise to the project.

"We brought in some more people to help us with the engineering part of it," explained Swayam Sanghvi, who learned of the dangers that microplastics pose to human health from his mother, a doctor, according to the Midvale Journal. "One of our teammates knew about electrical engineering and soldering, another knew how to work with Arduino; we learned from each other." 

Arduino is an "open-source electronic prototyping platform enabling users to create interactive electronic objects," according to the company's website. 

One of the key advantages of the team's creation is its portability.

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"Other systems cannot be transported to different locations, so a new purification system has to be built if you want to use the same product at another place," explained Sashwath, per the Midvale Journal. "Ours is transportable." 

Plastic waste, and microplastics in particular, pose an enormous challenge around the world, harming human health, vital industries like fishing and tourism, and the environment.

Though they did not cause the world's plastic problem, young inventors like the team from Hillcrest High School might just be the ones to solve it. 

While not everyone has the time or the technical know-how to invent a portable microplastic filter, there are simple steps that anyone can take to reduce plastic waste. For example, by choosing plastic-free alternatives for everyday products and supporting brands that use plastic-free packaging, you can help reduce plastic consumption while using your voice as a consumer to send an important message to companies.

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