Neel Mehta
Northrop Grumman has concluded its 12-week high school students competition to promote interest in science, technology, engineering and math.
This year’s Northrop Grumman High School Innovation Challenge had the students design and build and renewable energy-powered model vehicle that could carry a payload efficiently, Northrop Grumman announced Monday.
For the competition, the company’s engineers at the Northrop Grumman Palmdale Aircraft Integration Center of Excellence mentored the HSIC teams.
The students presented their ideas orally to a panel of engineers and were then graded based on their ability to develop and document their vehicle’s design.
The winner of the competition was Palmdale Aerospace Academy, followed by Antelope Valley High School and Tehachapi High School.
On April 12, the competition was held at the William Pete Knight High School in Palmdale, Calif.
“The Northrop Grumman High School Innovation Challenge exposes students to the major steps required to develop, document and demonstrate an engineering concept,” said Krystal Puga, Northrop Grumman HSIC deputy coordinator and a systems engineer on the James Webb Space Telescope project.
“It teaches them how to develop, document and present their ideas; manage a schedule and budget; and prove that their concept meets the customer’s requirements,” Puga added.
