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NASA Langley Sponsors National Student Competition
AWARDS RECOGNIZE FUTURISTIC FLYING CAR DESIGNS
Thought to be the ultimate in point-to-point mobility, flying
cars of the 1980s Back to the Future and 1960s
Jetsons-fame remain a 21st-century fantasy.
Perhaps, not for long.
The Aerospace Vehicle Systems Technology Office (AVSTO) at
NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., will today award the
winners of a national high school competition challenging students
to design a practical flying car that could help revolutionize the
nation's transportation system.
The winners will be recognized at the Festival of Flight Student
Awards Banquet at 7 p.m. May 20 in Fayetteville, N.C. NASA Langley
AVSTO Director Dr. Darrel R. Tenney will present the awards.
Astronaut Jeffrey S. Ashby will deliver the keynote address.
Langley's Director of Education Samuel E. Massenberg will also
address the students.
A dozen teams from around the country entered the competition.
The first place award is shared by three female students who
submitted the highest scoring vehicle entries:
- Chandra Thompson, a senior at Tourtellotte Memorial High
School, North Grovensdale, Ct., submitted an individual entry
called "Bumblebee X Hybrid Flying Car Design".
- Michele Froede, junior, and Claire Olson, senior
at Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, Va., submitted a vehicle
design dubbed "Discharge Dodge of the Future."
Second place was shared by two student teams:
- "Travel by Flying Car: The Transportation of the Future,"
submitted by a second team from Lake Braddock Secondary School,
Burke, Va. Team members are: Abbie Legge, Leah Olson,
Shaun Scrafford, Nikolai Vozza, and Emily
Zenner.
- A team from Mount Abraham Union High School, Bristol, Vt.,
submitted a study on "Flock Dynamics". Team members are: Emily
Godard, Tanya Roberts and Tyler McGuire.
Third place went to the Chattanooga Composite Squadron of the
Civil Air Patrol in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 27-member team,
composed of mostly home-schooled students aged 12 - 17, submitted a
paper that attempted to make the famous Back to the Future
movie sports car fly.
Entries were judged on originality of conceptual design, ground
support systems, propulsion system, noise and other environmental
impact, cost analysis and other challenges identified by the
student teams in their research.
The competition was administered by the Departments of Physics,
Mathematics and Computer Sciences at Christopher Newport
University, Newport News, Va. Entries were received in April and
reviewed by a panel of NASA engineers and educators.
The winners will receive a plaque engraved with their team's
design name and organization's name. In addition, all winning teams
will receive education improvement awards ranging from $500 to
$1,000 and a specially created NASA certificate and artist's
rendering of a personal air vehicle.
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