PLTW OHIO SWEEPS DESIGN COMPETITION; WINNERS TO COMPETE NATIONALLY

Kettering Fairmont design team, along with their Engineering Design and Development teacher, David Lord, receives congratulations from Governor Ted Strickland for their first place finish in the Real World Design competition.

Thomas Worthington High School's second place Real World Design Challenge team with their PLTW teacher, Rod Pierce.  Challenge team members: Matt Tischer,Ryan Montag, Matt Truesdale, Karthik Hari, Dustin Stasel, Joey McEnery, Ben Grutsch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Updated 3/5/10
Contact: PJ Marshall

In a ceremony presided over by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, all three top prizes in the Real World Design Challenge were awarded to student teams from Project Lead the Way Ohio programs. Kettering Fairmont High School, Thomas Worthington High School, and Columbus Metro Early College High School student teams won for their designs, which each tackled the problem of making a business jet more fuel efficient.  The Real World Design Challenge is a state and nationwide contest aimed at finding a solution to a “real world” engineering problem.  The winning designs were showcased at the Ohio STEM Conference, held at COSI (the Center of Science and Industry) in Columbus on March 2.  As first place winners, the Kettering Fairmont students will travel to Washington D.C. March 26-29 to compete with winners from all over the United States in the national Real World Design Competition. 

The Fairmont team, Brian Catrine, William Timmer and Brandon Wehner, chose this challenge as their PLTW Engineering Design and Development senior capstone project.  Their first step was to research the aerodynamics of flying and then consult with their PLTW teacher, David Lord, and with Jeff Donbar, a research engineer from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and former affiliate professor for Project Lead the Way Ohio, who was “very impressed with the students and their tenacity in solving the problem.”   

Team members are hopeful that winning the design challenge will enhance their college resumes and perhaps bring them additional college scholarship opportunities.  At this point all of the team members plan to attend Sinclair Community College and earn their associates degrees and then transfer to a four year university to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering. 

“The Real World Design Challenge enhances STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in Ohio,”  said Governor Strickland of the competition.  “It reflects Ohio’s commitment to giving students opportunities to creatively apply what they have learned.”  

For additional information on Project Lead the Way,  visit www.pltw.org  or www.pltwohio.org .  For info on the Real World Design Challenge (RWDC), visit  www.realworlddesignchallenge.org . 

The 2010 - 2011 RWDC design problem and registration forms will be posted on the RWDC Web site in September 2010.

ADDITIONAL TEAM INFO is as follows:

The three highest scored Ohio RWDC team project reports were:

1) Team Fairmont
Kettering Fairmont High School
Kettering City Schools

Coach: David Lord

Student Members:
Brandon Wehner, 12th grade
Brian Catrine, 12th grade
Bill Timmer, 12th grade

Mentors:
Don Dreesback
Jeff Donbar

2) Cardinal 3
Thomas Worthington High School
Worthington City Schools

Coach: Rod Pierce

Student team members:
Matt Tischer, 18, 12th grade
Ryan Montag, 18, 12th grade
Matt Truesdale, 15, 10th grade
Karthik Hari, 16, 12th grade
Dustin Stasel, 17, 12th grade
Joey McEnery, 17, 12th grade
Ben Grutsch, 17, 12 grade

Mentors:
Lt. Col. Chris Shearer
Sean Montag

3) Metro 2B
Metro Early College High School
Columbus

Coach: Andy Bruening

Student Team Members:
Alex Buchan
Nick Gagnet
Ciara Greenlee
Wenliang Fu
Kevin Mann
Keima Smith
Sarah Waugh