Warren engineering students named finalists

DOWNEY - Three Warren High School engineering students have been selected to compete in the final round of the 2012-13 Spirit of Innovation Challenge and now they need the community's help to get them over the top.Team M3 is comprised of Warren students Mulan MacDougall, Matt Pacheco and Michelle Tulean, and is coached by teacher Glenn Yamasaki. The team developed an innovative new way to travel comfortably on commercial airliners. They were invited to present their product at the Innovation Summit happening April 10-13 in Houston for the chance to win one of four $10,000 prizes. Before the summit, however, the team has one more hurdle to jump -- the People's Choice video contest. From March 18-29, the public is invited to review the profiles of the 20 finalist teams, view their product videos and cast a vote for their favorite video. Downey residents are encouraged to vote for Warren by visiting conradawards.org/groups. One vote is allowed per person in each challenge category. Public votes provide valuable points in each team's overall score. The competition is sponsored by Lockheed Martin Corporation and Battelle, and challenges teens to combine innovation and entrepreneurship along with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to create commercially-viable products to benefit humanity. "To say these young people are creating unique and impressive products only gives a piece of the education puzzle," said Jennifer Fotherby, executive director of the Spirit of Innovation Challenge. "The practical knowledge, leadership and teamwork skills they are development will serve them well as they become the innovative workforce of the 21st Century."

********** Published: March 28, 2013 - Volume 11 - Issue 50