DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
P. O.
October 3, 2008
TO: Technology Education Teachers
FROM: Lynn Basham, Ph.D., Program Specialist
Technology Education Service
SUBJECT:
The Department of Energy
launched the Real World Design Challenge on October 1, 2008. Ten states have
announced their participation in this new high school engineering design
competition. Students will have the opportunity to compete in this inaugural
year. We look forward to helping teachers prepare to engage students to develop
an interest in design and engineering. We
hope that you will assist us by recruiting and registering a team for the
competition. The initial states participating are
The Real World Design
Challenge (RWDC) is an annual event that provides high school students, grades
9 - 12, with the opportunity to work on real world engineering challenges in a
collaborative environment. Each year, student teams will be asked to research a
challenge that confronts one of our nation's leading industries. Students will
utilize professional engineering software to develop their solutions and will
also generate presentations that convincingly demonstrate the value of their
solutions. The RWDC provides students with opportunities to apply the lessons
of the classroom to the technical problems that are being faced in the
workplace. This year's Challenge addresses the impact of aviation design on
fuel consumption.
Participation in the
Challenge is open to all high school students in
http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/RWDC/index.html,
to register a team or to get more information.
In order to assist
For
further information, please contact Dr. Lynn Basham, Technology Education
Specialist, Virginia Department of Education at 804-786-4210 or Lynn.Basham@doe.virginia.gov.
LB/ahr
c: George R. Willcox
Elizabeth
M. Russell