Several days ago, the team received news that they'd been awarded a $10,000 grant provided by
the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, a 501(c)(3) public charity overseeing the towns of
New Britain, Plainville, and Berlin. Because of their incredible mission of supporting local community
projects ranging from human services to education and invention, the team is deeply honored that they’ve
been chosen as a recipient of this grant and that their endeavors are being recognized and supported.
For Carpe Noctem, this grant will be game changing. Funneling directly into their project, these
funds will support their future presentations and be distributed into other goals that Carpe Noctem has
been working toward tirelessly for months. Most notably, it will finance their official Utility Patent
application, which the team is prepared to submit to the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) this winter. Additional funds will be directed towards the team's presentations at the North
American Society of Bat Research (NASBR) conference, an international forum where scientists,
conservationists, ecologists, and students from across the globe will share their latest technology and
research in the field of bat biology. After months of preparation for NASBR presentations, and finalizing
the specifics in their technology with the help of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Engineer Paul
Fucile and his son, Lemelson-MIT Invention Education Fellow Dominic Fucile, it will be the cultivation
of every effort from the student team. As the only high school students in attendance, being able to
present and share their ideas at such a scale will be an extraordinary experience that the team will
remember for the rest of their lives.

Aside from expanding their project outreach, the grant will also be used to buy necessary
equipment and prototyping materials to support the longevity of the project. As their field season comes
to an end and data classification ensues, 30,000 bat calls will be analyzed and sorted to see if the findings
have an impact on our understanding of native bat species and their conservation. Carpe Noctem plans to
enact new phases of their project this school year, and expand production capabilities, ensuring that
current and future students can build upon the project's foundation and expand student invention
opportunities within Berlin High School.

This grant will be crucial for bridging the gap between initial testing and research to fully scalable
inventions. Carpe Noctem is incredibly grateful for the opportunities that it will provide and would like to
extend its sincerest thanks to the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain for believing in student
invention, innovation, STEM, and above all — our fellow bat companions. These milestones and new
ventures would not be possible without their support, for which we are deeply appreciative!
To stay updated on Carpe Noctem's journey, follow them on instagram @carpenoctem_berlinct,
and if you are interested in reaching out to the team, please contact their mentor Christopher Wisniewski
at cwisniewski@berlinschools.org.

Figure 1. Left to right: Angela Topintzis, Paul Fucile, Hanna Bednarczyk, Michelle Liu, Monika Burbula,
Melina Liu, and Rylin Holland.
The team is observing schematics and working on connecting the NoctiSentinel, a proxy bat, to a
preliminary bat house model, allowing it to mimic a real bat's movements while at rest.

Figure 2. Marco Mongillo (left) and Paul Fucile (right).
Marco and Mr. Fucile are working on the most adept version of the Noctilure that the team hopes to
exhibit at NASBR.

Figure 3. A recent snapshot of the Noctilure deployed in their ongoing field season, attracting bats and insects alike
with a specialized UV light and reflector system.

Figure 4. A photo of the team’s bioaccoustic software that allows them to visualize bat calls. Displayed is a
foraging call from a big brown bat (Eptesicus Fuscus), the most common bat species in Connecticut. The
cluster on the right is a capture of a feeding buzz, which means this bat was actively foraging at this
moment in time.