“It was unbelievable, just knowing that not a whole lot of people get to do this and this is sort of a very rare opportunity,” Ottarson said.

The White House Science Fair is a result of Obama’s Educate to Innovate campaign, launched in November 2009. The program’s aim is to inspire youth to excel in math and science.

“One of the things that I’ve been focused on as president is how do we create an all-hands-on-deck approach to science, technology, engineering and math,” Obama said at the event.

The team’s project is called the Offshore Rip Current Alert System, or ORCA. The invention, a buoy with a sensor in the middle, detects when a rip current is present in the body of water. If one is present, a siren on top of the buoy goes off to alert nearby swimmers.

“People often become trapped in these currents, and they try to fight it and get tired and eventually just get swept out to the middle of the lake,” Ottarson said. “That’s how they drown. Last year in the Great Lakes, more than 100 people drowned, and about third of them were from rip currents.”

His team, consisting of 11 high school students from Williamston High School and three Williamston High School graduates, submitted their initial application in spring 2011. They submitted a second, more in-depth proposal of their invention, in fall 2011 and were awarded their grant in October 2011.

Last June, the Williamston High School Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam presented their invention at EurekaFest at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Museum of Science. The event allowed the team to present their idea in front of other InvenTeams, totaling at least 30.

The Williamston High School Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam received their invitation to the White House Science Fair only a couple weeks ago. Ottarson was one of two team representatives at the event.

Team adult mentor Dan Schab, a math teacher at Williamston High School, said he is proud of his team for what they have accomplished.

“For the students, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing to go into the White House and meet the president,” Schab said. “That they got to see the work that other kids around the country are doing. They inspired each other by seeing some of the great things other kids are able to do.”

The next step for the team is acquiring a patent for their invention. They’re still tweaking the design of ORCA, attempting to make the buoy more stable in water. However, considering that the team initially was denied the grant, their accomplishment is more impressive.

“The first time we attempted to get (the grant), we actually weren’t chosen,” Schab said. “But the kids stuck with it and applied a second time. From there, all of these great things have happened for the team. I’m very, very proud of the work that they’ve done.”