Washington state students to participate
in “Real World Design Challenge”
 
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SEATTLE - Governor Chris Gregoire and Lt. Gov. Brad Owen announced today that Washington will join nine other states to partner with the U.S. Department of Energy for its 2008 Governor’s Real World Design Challenge, a nationwide contest that gives high school students the opportunity to work with experts from government, industry and higher education to solve a real world engineering problem.

A kick-off event to formally announce the challenge at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 at the Museum of Flight will feature as speakers the lieutenant governor, the Federal Aviation Administration’s regional administrator, executives with Boeing and the Parametric Technology Corporation, and a teacher from Bremerton.   Open to the public, the kick-off at the South View Lounge will be moderated by Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, the museum’s president and CEO and retired shuttle astronaut.

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Lt. Governor Owen helped kick off the U.S. Department of Energy's "Real World Design Challenge" at a ceremony Oct. 11 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The challenge is providing  teachers and teams of high school students with special software and training to compete with nine other states to design a more fuel efficient aircraft. From  left, above, are Ralph Coppola with Parametric Technology Corporation, Larry Hefti with Boeing, Lt. Gov. Owen, Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, director of the Museum of Flight, Dennis Roberts, regional administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration and instructor Dr. Will Jones from Bremerton High School.

Below, from left, are Dr. Jones, Hefti, Owen, teacher Eric Nerison from the South Whidbey School District and Tim Scott from the Auburn School District.  Lt. Governor's remarks.

 “Today’s workforce demands increasingly high levels of training and education that spans technology, science, math and engineering,” Gov. Gregoire said. “We need to look for ways to inspire, challenge and encourage our high school students to pursue these critical fields as they make decisions about their future.  I am pleased this partnership came together as another way to get Washington students excited about these vital areas.”

Lt. Gov. Owen said this year’s contest, the first presented by the energy department, will focus on aeronautics.  Specifically, teams of Washington students and their teachers will be asked to examine how the four forces of flight can impact the design of a plane, with the goal of enhancing fuel efficiency.

 “This is a fantastic opportunity for Washington schools,” Owen said. “It is our hope that this annual competition will incite new interest and draw more attention within these crucial subjects.  Anything is possible when it comes to these kinds of competitions. Perhaps it will be a team of Washington high school students that gets us further along in solving our energy challenges.”

The students will have the chance to work as teams using professional engineering software, collaborating online with industry experts from the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Energy National Laboratories, industry and higher education.  A winning statewide team will be announced early next year to represent Washington in a national competition in Washington, D.C.

Participating teachers will also be able to attend two-day training in computer-aided design (CAD) software for the Challenge donated by Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) and receive classroom software licenses donated by PTC worth more than $900,000 per teacher.  Additional software being donated by PTC and Mentor Graphics brings the value to nearly $1 million per teacher, according to Ralph Coppola, director of worldwide education for PTC.

The Real World Design Challenge partnership includes the U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Parametric Technology Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Business Educational Partnerships Group, Mentor Graphics, the Education Development Center, participating states and others.

"It is a privilege to partner with these organizations in rolling out the Real World Design Challenge,” said Barry F. Cohen, PTC’s executive vice president for Strategic Services and Partners.  "PTC has a real interest in training the engineer of the future and addressing the dearth of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians that the state of Washington and the aerospace industry so desperately needs."

 “This innovative program provides an opportunity for our students to be mentored by industry experts as they address real world issues facing the aerospace industry.  We are committed to provide every opportunity for our students to pursue aerospace engineering-related careers and to be better prepared for a competitive workforce, and are honored to take part in this groundbreaking partnership,” said Dennis Roberts, the FAA’s administrator for its Northwest Mountain Region.

 Dunbar, herself a graduate of the University of Washington’s engineering program, said the competition has the potential to “teach innovation, stir new imagination and bolster new resourcefulness among our high school students.”

 “The United States collaborates with countries around the world on aircraft and spacecraft design,” Dr. Dunbar said. “It is competitions such as this that will help us maintain our place as leaders in this industry as we develop our future workforce.”  

The museum sponsors the annual Washington Aerospace Scholars program that similarly provides high school students with advanced aerospace education, both online and on-site at its facility at Boeing Field.

 Teacher training is being coordinated by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. An early October training session took place at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. More training may be made available before the Nov. 15 entry deadline.

Other participating states include Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Vermont.

 The Museum of Flight is at 9404 E Marginal Way South in Seattle.  More information is on the Web at:

 http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/RWDC/index.html . 

Teachers may register teams at this site by going to the Coach’s page.

Media Contacts:

 Brian Dirks, Office of the Lt. Governor  (360) 786-7707 or dirks.brian@leg.wa.gov
 
Ralph Coppola, Parametric Technology Corporation:  703-871-5176 cell: 703-298-6630 or rcoppola@ptc.com