KUA STEM Team Preparing for National Competition
Having earned the Governor’s Cup by winning the Real World Design Challenge competition for the state of New Hampshire for the second consecutive year in February, the Kimball Union STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) team is preparing for the national competition which will be held in Washington, DC from April 19-21, 2013.
The Real World Design Challenge (RWDC) is an annual competition that provides high school students, grades 9-12, the opportunity to work on real world engineering challenges in a team environment.
This year's state challenge was to design a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) which included one or more fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and to develop a business plan in support of commercial applications based on a specific mission scenario involving search and rescue operations. (Learn more here).
KUA STEM team coach, Dr. Tom Pasquini, said, "Their single airplane solution was so successful because it was able to search the 2 mile radius area very quickly, in about 40 minutes. This helped them achieve a very low objective function value. Their report was also graded very highly..."
This year's state challenge was to design a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) which included one or more fixed-wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and to develop a business plan in support of commercial applications based on a specific mission scenario involving search and rescue operations. (Learn more here).
KUA STEM team coach, Dr. Tom Pasquini, said, "Their single airplane solution was so successful because it was able to search the 2 mile radius area very quickly, in about 40 minutes. This helped them achieve a very low objective function value. Their report was also graded very highly..."
The national competition takes things to the next level, adding layers of complexity to the challenge. Students are optimizing their design, completing a detailed analysis using higher order computational tools, and preparing and rehearsing their oral presentations.
“This competition requires students to draw on a complete range of 21st century skills,” says Dr. Pasquini, “From problem solving, critical thinking and communication to leadership, teamwork and creativity. These students have challenged themselves on many levels.”
The KUA team will make a preliminary presentation to 4 judges on Saturday, April 20, competing against 28-30 teams from across the country and several US territories. Three teams will progress to the finals and present to a panel of 25 industry experts from the public and private sectors.
KUA STEM team members include Jon Butler '15, Paul Katzberger '15, Phillip Kessler '15, Annika Kim '13, Roger Liu '15, Diego Rossi '13, and Chandler Song '14.
KUA STEM team members include Jon Butler '15, Paul Katzberger '15, Phillip Kessler '15, Annika Kim '13, Roger Liu '15, Diego Rossi '13, and Chandler Song '14.
To learn more about KUA's STEM programs, visit www.kua.org/STEM
