Two student inventors earned the school’s Engineering Academy a $1,000 grant from Johnson Controls to build a solar-powered charging station where people can charge cell phones and other electronic devices.

Junior Isaiah Dukes and senior Carl Jones came up with the idea for a solar station because many people need to charge their devices while away from home, Dukes said.

Helping with the project are a dozen students from the school’s Engineering Academy and Robotics Team. Engineering Academy Coordinator Joe Minnick said he hand-picked the dozen.

The team plans to install the charging stations at local bus stops so that those waiting for busses can use them, Dukes said.

The invention has gained the attention of Southfield City Council member Ken Siver and the Southfield City Planner Terry Croad, who are helping the students select locations for the charging stations.

Southfield alumnus David Morris serves on the Engineering Academy Advisory Board, where he proposed the grant project to Minnick and the students. Morris and two of his team members at Johnson Controls come to Southfield High weekly to mentor and assist the team with their special project.

Morris said that he wants to give young men and women the opportunity to contribute to the community, and that’s partly what attracted him to the project.

The team hopes to put out the first solar-powered charging station in the Spring of 2014 at the Southfield City Centre, at Civic Center Drive and Central Park Boulevard, said Dukes. The particular area is going through a major redevelopment to become more pedestrian friendly. The aim is to create a district similar to downtown Royal Oak or Ferndale. The charging station would be a part of this overall new vision for the City of Southfield.

Jones said the charging station will use solar panels and possibly wind turbines to promote green energy.

Initially, Jones and Dukes had wanted to build a solar-powered charging “garden,” a pleasant, remote gathering place where people could charge their devices outside and enjoy some tranquility. However, city officials saw it as an exciting addition to the City Centre redevelopment plan.