Two Juniors Named Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge Semifinalists

Two Milken Juniors might be responsible for saving countless lives thanks to the development of a product called The Clot Cat. In fact, this ingenious invention earned both Kyle Newman ’19 and Michael Bochkur Dratver ’19 the honor of being selected as Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge Semifinalists.

The Clot Cat, is a patch that can be placed on the lower leg, which electrically activates the common peroneal nerve using an electrode in order to enhance blood flow throughout the body. The electrical stimulation of the common peroneal nerve causes the cavity of the calf muscle to open, helping blood in the arteries and veins achieve normal circulation. This can help prevent people who live sedentary lifestyles from developing Deep Vein Thrombosis and Arterial Thrombosis, which are both diseases that can lead to cardiac arrest and heart attack.

Newman and Bochkur Dratver worked to develop the company, CorXS, which is also their team name. Part acronym, "Cor" means heart in Latin, the "X" is for exploration, and the "S" is for Safety, and their goal is to find the best ways to keep hearts safe.

According to Newman, he decided to pursue this project after he and a friend reflected on the leg pain they had during airline flights because of not receiving adequate blood circulation in the lower leg. After researching the topic, they realized that not only does the cutoff in circulation cause pain in the lower leg, but also leads to more dire consequences like blood clotting.

"Being selected as a semifinalist in the Conrad Spirit of Innovation Competition has inspired my team to further develop our ideas for a project that preserves people's health though the electrical stimulation of blood flow to prevent blood clotting," said Newman. “I would like to also mention that our team is thankful to our mentor, [Director of the Mitchell Academy of Science and Technology and Science Teacher] Roger Kassebaum, for inspiring us to participate in this competition and develop our ideas further regarding our invention,” he added.

“It’s very exciting to play a part in the Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge,” expressed Bochkur Dratver. “The competition embodies many different aspects of creativity and science, both of which I love delving into. I am hopeful our project will be good enough to make it to the next level and make Milken proud.”

The Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge is an annual global innovation and entrepreneurial competition which challenges teams to develop solutions to real-world problems. Teams apply science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) innovation, as well as entrepreneurship to create commercially viable products to benefit humanity and support global sustainability.


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