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Results of NASA's Applied Engineering Competition
Goddard Space Flight Center's Educational Programs Office hosted the annual engineering competition this year at DuVal High School in Greenbelt, MD. Morgan State University, The Baltimore Museum of Industry, and Prince George's County Public Schools partnered with Goddard in sponsoring and promoting the competition. In the competition's first round, students were given a set of rules and constraints under which they had to recommend a series of on-orbit attitude maneuvers to help the Terra satellite satisfy its sensors' calibration requirements. (Click to read the Round 1 Problem.) The top five finalist teams were selected from among the pool of first-round entrants. For the second and final round of the competition, the teams received a mission briefing from Flight Operations personnel within Terra Mission Control. Then they were given their second real-world problem to solve and sequestered themselves for the 90-minute "fight-to-the-finish." (Click to read the Round 2 Problems.) The five finalist teams analyzed, sorted, and crunched data using their problem-solving skills, then used a laptop to make a final power-point presentation to the judging panel. The Grand prize, a complete PC or Apple Macintosh computer system complete with an assortment of supporting software, was awarded to the two-member team of Carroll County Career and Technology Center/Westminister High School. That team compiled the highest number of points within a very thorough evaluation rubric. The First Runner-Up team, represented by the Applications and Research High School of Howard County, acquired a very impressive point total that placed them within five points of the Westminster HIgh School Team. The second place team was also awarded a PC or Apple Macintosh system with software. Perry Hall High School placed a very impressive third place as DuVal High School and Tourtellotte Memorial High School, of Grosvenordale, CT, rounded out the field of very competitive teams. Other prizes, shirts, and trophies were given to all team members. NASA congratulates all the teams for an enjoyable day of competition and fun. |
Four high school teams from Maryland and one team from Connecticut squared off on April 21 in NASA's Applied Engineering Competition. This year, the teams were tasked with solving two real-world problems
involving the Earth Observing System (EOS) flagship satellite, Terra, launched December 18, 1999. The student participants demonstrated amazing creativity and analytical skills throughout the intense competition.