Bethel Park graduate’s team finishes first in national science competition

Bethel Park High School graduate Sabrina Tatalias finished in first place with her Point Park University teammates, Ibrokhim Mirzakhonov and Emily VanderMey, in the national 2020 Gfk NextGen Data Science Hackathon Competition, earning a cash award of $5,000.
Tatalias is pursuing a bachelor of science degree in information technology from the Rowland School of Business at Point Park. She is the daughter of Dina and Bill Tatalias of Bethel Park.
Based on current worldwide concerns about viruses like COVID-19, along with other airborne diseases and pollutants, Tatalias, Mirzakhonov and VanderMey developed a product that would use HEPA air filtration and ultraviolet light to help eliminate allergies, diseases and impurities inside of cars.
“Our idea, SAPS (Surface and Air Purification System) addresses the health and safety concerns amidst the coronavirus pandemic. We often spend a lot of time inside a vehicle so we came up with a system that would essentially be a HEPA air purification filter on the AC unit of a car that is integrated with Far-UVC light technology to kill and prevent viruses and bacteria,” Tatalias said.