Rising sea levels and increasingly frequent extreme weather across the East Coast have created a growing need for more resilient housing solutions. As extreme weather becomes more common, one high school student in North Carolina is thinking ahead about how to build homes more creatively to withstand rising sea levels and rain. During summer trips to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, high schooler Ajith Varikuti noticed homes disappearing due to harsh coastal conditions. Motivated to find a solution, he entered software company Autodesk’s 2024 Make it Resilient design competition as a 9th grader, according to Fast Company. His winning concept is a modular, 3D-printed home elevated on flood-resistant stilts, designed to be moved if needed. The design, which won a $10,000 grand prize, was tested using software simulations for hurricane resilience and refined with help from structural engineers.
For a design created by a teenager, Varikuti’s is a surprisingly buildable concept, and one that could be a solution for the extreme conditions faced by the Outer Banks. There are currently no plans to get the house built, but Varikuti, who’s now in 10th grade, says the process of designing it has got him excited about creating projects that could get built one day.
“This entire experience has made me realize how big of a world the engineering world is, and how there’s so many opportunities,” he says. “It’s led me to want to pursue a career in engineering, hopefully using CAD tools one day to make projects that will be implemented in real life.” Read more