The Last Word: Style Advice from the North Texas Winner of the ‘Stuck at Prom’ Duct Tape Contest

“Stay snazzy!”

Isaac Cervantes
Pilot Point high school student
.…offering his style advice as the winner of the international “Stuck at Prom” Duct Tape Design Scholarship Contest.

He designed a prom tuxedo that isn’t just totally awesome—it’s waterproof, too. And now Isaac Cervantes has won two international awards and $16,000 in scholarships in the 2024 “Stuck at Prom” Scholarship Contest presented by Ohio-based Duck Tape.

You can see more looks at his duct-tape tux—which took 123 hours, a mobile tablet, and 16 rolls of duct tape to make—by checking out our story.

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

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R E A D   N E X T

  • The North Texas Innovation Alliance has begun offering quarterly "hands-on innovation experiences" at "the brightest and most innovative projects across North Texas" for NTXIA members. The Immersive Innovation field trips kicked off with a tour of the NSF's newly opened eCAT Center at UNT. Here's where the NTXIA is going next.

  • Pilot Point high school student Isaac Cervantes used a mobile tablet at school and home to design his Grand Prize-winning duct-tape tux. After 123 hours—and 16 rolls of Duck Tape—his celebration of both his Mexican and American heritage features a large Monarch butterfly on the back made out of USA and Mexico flags. Here's a look at what he made—and why he stuck with it.

  • The newly established Texas Capital Foundation is following the first round of grant awards by opening again for new submissions this November.

  • Tarleton State University received the go-ahead for a new biotechnology institute as part of Texas A&M-Fort Worth's burgeoning downtown research campus. Approved in mid-August by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the biotech institute is situated in one of the nation's fastest-growing life sciences hubs. "More than 5,000 biotechnology manufacturing and research and development firms — think Novartis, Alcon, AstraZeneca — call Texas home," according to the university. And DFW now ranks seventh in the U.S. for life science and biotech jobs.  The Tarleton State Biotechnology Institute will focus on discovery and innovation in bioinformatics and computational modeling.…

  • Neal Smatresk's decade at UNT sparked big changes and growth, boosting its standing in academics and research. From "record-breaking enrollment" to "making UNT the highest-ranked Tier One institution in the North Texas region," his tenure marks transformation across multiple fronts.