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HARRISBURG, Pa. — Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA), a statewide K through 12 public cyber charter school, today announced that its Real World Design Challenge (RWDC) team of six students won this year’s statewide competition, marking the 10th consecutive year of CCA capturing the state title. The team is preparing to represent Pennsylvania at the national […]
01/30/2020
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA), a statewide K through 12 public cyber charter school, today announced that its Real World Design Challenge (RWDC) team of six students won this year’s statewide competition, marking the 10th consecutive year of CCA capturing the state title. The team is preparing to represent Pennsylvania at the national competition on April 25 in Washington, D.C.
“I first want to congratulate this year’s students for their outstanding achievement and on a job well done,” said Dr. Maurice “Reese” Flurie, CCA’s president and CEO. “This year also marks an important milestone since this is the 10th consecutive year that CCA students have won the competition. The CCA family is extremely proud of these students and looks forward to cheering them on at the national level.”
The RWDC tasks students with a professional engineering challenge to design and implement unmanned aerial systems – more commonly known as drones – that will help solve modern-day issues faced by global industries.
The CCA team designed a drone that takes off with rotors pointing upward, then switching to a hybrid airfoil for long-distance flight to conserve battery power (a student rendering of the design).
The CCA team designed a drone that takes off with rotors pointing upward, then switching to a hybrid airfoil for long-distance flight to conserve battery power (a student rendering of the design).
The 2020 challenge required students to design a drone that could carry and deliver packages weighing up to 5 kilograms, make continuous deliveries through a neighborhood and complete its route with at least 20 minutes of battery life remaining.
“This year’s unique challenge provided a diverse learning opportunity for our team,” team leader Alisher Aminov said. “In addition to working with my classmates to address the technical aspects of designing the drone, the competition has also given us the opportunity to explore ways to approach complex business challenges.”
The team had to consider a variety of challenges, including power management, weight, and design efficiency, when designing its drone. All designs were required to include upward-facing rotors, effectively reducing the battery life of the drone. To overcome this issue, the CCA team designed a drone that takes off with rotors pointing upward, then switches to a hybrid airfoil for long-distance flight to conserve battery power.
The RWDC was created to help build the United States’ STEM workforce by providing high school students from across the country the opportunity to work on real-life engineering challenges in a collaborative, team environment.
“Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are the foundation and the future of the national and global economies,” Flurie said. “It is critically important that all K to 12 schools provide students with hands-on, career-focused opportunities to ensure today’s generation is prepared for the jobs of tomorrow. CCA is a leader in career-ready, innovative initiatives and programs and remains committed to preparing students for postsecondary success.”
Reaching a full decade of success in the state competition, CCA this year competed against student teams from schools across Pennsylvania. The following students were part of the CCA team:
“Each year, the RWDC serves as an excellent opportunity for our students to take a hands-on approach to STEM careers, while also teaching them about the importance of collaborating as a team,” said Andrew Gehman, CCA’s RWDC adviser and secondary math teacher. “This is an important event for our students as it gives them a chance to work together toward a common goal.”
At the RWDC national competition in April, teams representing the U.S. and China will present their inventions to a panel of judges with careers in aerospace and defense. Since first participating in the national competition in 2008, the CCA team has twice finished in second place.
Media Contacts:
Tim Eller, 717-710-3335, [email protected]
Katelyn McNally, 717-712-5702, [email protected]
Categories: News Release
