CANBERRA, Australia,
July 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is sponsoring a team of
high school students from Dickson College who are competing in the
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Outback Challenge 2013, aimed at
promoting UAVs and demonstrating their utility in civilian
applications.
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As part of the UAV Challenge the students will develop their own
UAV. They are required to design, build and fly a UAV capable of
delivering life-saving supplies to a lost or injured individual,
known as Outback Joe. The team must locate Outback Joe using clues
and waypoints, and deliver the payload within a two square metre
area.
"The UAV Challenge requires students to apply their combined
skills and knowledge of robotics, computing and mathematics as they
attempt to develop an unmanned airborne delivery system," said the
Hon Dr Mike Kelly AM, MP, Australian Minister for Defence Materiel.
"These are real-life professional skills which are being developed
and honed and I am very pleased to see industry playing a leading
role in supporting these types of initiatives."
Northrop Grumman participates in a number of educational
programs in countries around the world that are aimed at promoting
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
The partnership with Dickson College is the first long-term
commitment made by the company to foster STEM efforts in
Australia.
"This is a great opportunity to mentor tomorrow's leaders in
aerospace and other technical career fields and to help create a
future generation of aerospace professionals with a focus on UAVs,"
said Ian Irving, chief executive,
Australia for Northrop Grumman.
"Forging this partnership with Dickson College provides students
with tangible ways to explore and develop their field of interest –
whether that is engineering, mathematics, science or project
management."
In addition to providing the funding for the Dickson College
team to begin development of their UAV, Northrop Grumman executives
and employees will also meet with the students to provide key
insights about their progress.
"We are delighted to have Northrop Grumman's support for our UAV
program," said Rob Emanuel,
principal of Dickson College. "This partnership between industry
and education is vitally important to us and enables us to provide
exciting and challenging opportunities for our students to work
with cutting-edge technology and understand the opportunities that
exist for them once they graduate."
The UAV Challenge has been developed to promote the significance
of UAVs to Australia. The event is
a joint government, industry and research organization initiative
between the Queensland government
and the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation,
Aviation Development Australia and the Aerial Unmanned Vehicle
Systems of Australia. Please visit
http://www.uavoutbackchallenge.com.au/ for more information.
About Dickson College
Dickson College is a year 11 and 12 public school located in
Canberra, Australia. The school
offers a wide range of learning opportunities including industry
focused science, engineering and technology programs. Please visit
www.dicksonc.act.edu.au for more information.
About Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems,
cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and
commercial customers worldwide. Please visit
www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
SOURCE Northrop Grumman Corporation