PALMDALE, Calif., April 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Students from
Antelope Valley area high schools proved on April 5 that imagination and dedication can
ignite innovation. Competing in the annual Northrop Grumman (NYSE:
NOC) High School Innovation Challenge (HSIC), the students took on
an engineering problem with limited budget, resources and time. The
challenge is modeled each year after a current Northrop Grumman
program or engineering capability.
A video can be viewed at www.northropgrumman.com/hsic.
Saturday's competition, one of several HSIC events sponsored
each year by Northrop Grumman, was held at William Pete Knight High
School in Palmdale. It is designed
to stimulate student interest in careers in scientific or
engineering fields. The goal of this year's competition was to
design and build a renewable-energy-powered model vehicle that
could carry a payload as efficiently as possible over a set
distance.
"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, a systems engineer on Northrop
Grumman's James Webb Space Telescope project and the company's HSIC
deputy coordinator. "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."
The teams participating in this year's HSIC included Antelope
Valley High School in Lancaster;
William Pete Knight High School in Palmdale; Palmdale High School in Palmdale; Lancaster High School in
Lancaster; The Aerospace Academy
in Palmdale; and Tehachapi High
School in Tehachapi.
Over the course of the 12-week competition, the HSIC teams were
mentored by a Northrop Grumman Palmdale Aircraft Integration Center
of Excellence engineer. The student teams were graded on their
ability to develop and document their vehicle's design in a written
report. Additionally, they presented their concept orally to a
panel of engineers and had to prove their vehicle's performance on
the test track.
The winner of the 2014 Northrop Grumman High School Innovation
Challenge was Palmdale Aerospace Academy. Antelope Valley High
School placed second, while Tehachapi High School was third. The
spirit award for showing judges the most enthusiasm for teamwork
and engineering was presented to Antelope Valley High School.
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.
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SOURCE Northrop Grumman Corporation