Innovus + Ecotek: A Transformative Partnership
Innovus Innovation student Xaire Lewis is actively participating in the Ecotek Lab Tap Watch Water Quality Program—a youth-driven citizen science initiative that empowers students to monitor and protect local water systems. The program focuses on enhancing water conservation through data analysis while promoting environmental stewardship, scientific literacy, and community engagement. Innovus partnered with Ecotek to bring the Tap Watch program to Orlando.
Tapwatch provides students in grades 4 – 12 with professional-grade sensors and training to test, analyze, and report on key water quality indicators such as pH, turbidity, chlorine levels, and heavy metals. Students conduct water testing in their homes, schools, and neighborhoods, contributing to a shared database that brings attention to environmental justice, infrastructure issues, and public health challenges, particularly in underserved communities.
What sets Tapwatch apart is its integration of AI and global science, empowering students to examine the global hydrosphere and contribute to international efforts. Through the program, students generate water usage data, develop virtual water conservation scenarios, design sustainable infrastructure, and lead educational campaigns about the importance of clean water and the risks of water waste.
Real-World Impact and Global Collaboration
Tapwatch is more than a science project—it's a platform for civic responsibility and global collaboration. Project deliverables include:
SDG 6 Water Reports accessible to United Nations Member Countries
Diagnostic datasets for independent visualization and modeling
Specialized water research for UN Member Countries
Hydro-bank storage system blueprints
Hydrology-based AI algorithms for data mining and analysis
The program is a partnership between Ecotek Lab, Data Dialogix, and the United Nations, offering students valuable work experience and paid summer co-op opportunities. Many participating students, including Zarie, have gone on to be accepted into top-tier STEM programs at leading universities.
Founded by educator and innovator Keith Young, Ecotek Lab is a dynamic, hands-on learning environment that fuses environmental sustainability with emerging technologies. Its mission is to inspire the next generation of changemakers by equipping them with the tools and mindset to solve real-world problems at the intersection of ecology, engineering, and innovation.
Ecotek engages students in authentic scientific inquiry and problem-solving related to clean energy, water conservation, sustainable agriculture, and green building. Rooted in problem-based learning, the program cultivates collaboration, critical thinking, and essential 21st-century skills.
Under Keith Young’s leadership, Ecotek Lab nurtures a culture of innovation, sustainability, and purpose-driven learning—developing young leaders who are both creators and stewards of a more sustainable future.
The collaboration between Ecotek Lab and the FLCOE Innovus Innovation Center represents a powerful alignment of missions—both committed to preparing the next generation of students to lead in an age shaped by science, sustainability, and social innovation. Through this partnership, Innovus students gain access to Ecotek’s nationally recognized, real-world STEM programming, including the Tapwatch Water Quality Program.
By integrating Ecotek’s research-based, problem-solving approach with Innovus’ personalized, competency-based learning model, the partnership provides students with unique opportunities to engage in cutting-edge scientific research, develop solutions to global challenges, and build portfolios that position them for success in college and career.
Together, Innovus and Ecotek are creating a pipeline for students—especially homeschoolers and underrepresented youth—to become leaders in environmental science, data analytics, and sustainability-focused technology.
