To address the global issue of water resiliency, Houston Community College is enlisting the ideas of young minds at Inventathon@HCC Sept. 22-23. The event runs from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. at the Advanced Manufacturing Building at HCC Stafford Campus, 13622 Stafford Road in Stafford.

The event, also called the Youth and Student Water Resiliency Hackathon, engages high school, community college and four-year and graduate student teams to develop solutions for urban water issues. The event is open to all high school, dual-credit, HCC and university students.

Hundreds of Houston-area students are expected to participate in designing and constructing water-related inventions. HCC is providing the students with high-tech equipment that includes 3D printers, modeling equipment, laser cutters and software.

For most people in the developed world, clean and abundant water is a given, thanks to plentiful natural springs, streams and access to reliable public water sources.

But not everyone is so lucky, especially in the developing world. A staggering 844 million people live without access to clean water, roughly one in 10 people on earth, according to Lifewater International, a nonprofit water development agency that serves the world’s rural poor.

“We are looking forward to hosting student inventors and innovators from across Houston at Inventathon@HCC,” said Ravi Brahmbhatt, director of student innovation at HCC. “Houston is full of talent and we at HCC want them to use Houston’s resources to build the next big thing. We will tackle the issue of water this semester to help solve some of Houston’s pressing water issues.”

The event is sponsored by San Antonio-based InvestH20 and Carollo Engineers, a California firm that specializes in the planning, design and construction of water the wastewater facilities.

At an HCC Inventathon in January, students developed a system called AquaWheel that was 3D printed and used the motion of a wheel to power an internal UV light to purify water. The goal of the system is to improve the lives of people in developing countries.

To register and find out more information, visit inventathon.us.