Immaculate’s Brave Engineers Team has placed third in the national 2019-20 Real World Design Challenge. This is a big victory considering the team is only in its second year. This win comes after the Brave Engineers won the State championship title earlier this year, for the second time in two years.
Under the guidance of advisor Jeanine Antonios, IHS math and engineering teacher, the Brave Engineers won the 2019-20 Real World Design Challenge (RWDC) for Connecticut in the Fall and earned a spot in the RWDC National Competition held in April 2020, where they came in third out of dozens of high school teams. Although the competition could not be physically held in Washington, D.C. as originally planned, the Brave Engineers submitted their work, which included their engineering design notebook, proof of CAD knowledge and their self-designed drone the N-203BE, nicknamed Falcon, to the challenge for review.
“We are very proud of our students; this is a significant win when you consider that the team is only two years old,” said Mrs. Antonios. “The students were well prepared because of their exuberance, dedication and work ethic, and because of the engineering, math and science classes Immaculate High School offers them,” she added.
The Brave Engineers who participated in the State RWDC 2020 Challenge are: Keelan Doherty ‘20 of Danbury (Project Manager/Technical Leader), David Kallberg ‘20 of Bethel (Theory of Operation and Design Director), Ross Relator ‘20 of Danbury (Lead Design Engineer), Sarra Darby ‘22 of New Fairfield (Business Case Manager), Carolyn Jandura ‘22 of Redding (Safety Manager) and Nikolas Badinelli ’22 of Danbury (Design Engineer). The team wishes to thank their mentors Mrs. Ruthanne Szumski from Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Engines and business leader Mike Basile from Wilshire Real Estate Advisors, LLC.
The Real World Design Challenge is an annual competition run by public and private partnerships, with the goal of setting a solid foundation for the future STEM workforce. It gives high school students the chance to work on real-world engineering challenges using professional science and engineering resources in a virtual environment, while allowing them to apply classroom lessons to real-life challenges found in the working world. This year, the Brave Engineers challenged their skills in the State RWDC 2020 Unmanned Aerial System Challenge: Pilot Package Delivery. This task required participating teams to design a drone within certain constraints to support package delivery in an urban environment following safety guidelines while building a profitable business case.
Immaculate High School encourages students to find success in academics, athletics, fine arts and clubs and is ranked in the top ten of all Catholic high schools in the State of Connecticut by NICHE. One of the more affordable private high schools, Immaculate High School is also among the highest ranked Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Bridgeport and continues to attain the highest SAT scores in the Diocese. Immaculate High School students, a representation of area public, private and Catholic schools, seek academic challenges, discover leadership and engage in progressive learning opportunities and have high success rates: 100% of the Class of 2019 were accepted to top colleges and universities and were awarded college scholarships and grants totaling $27 million.
In addition to a college-preparatory academic program that offers over 33 Advanced Placement classes and a STEAM curriculum featuring advanced technology, a CISCO certification program, renovated science labs and engineering classes and a Certified Nursing Associate program, Immaculate High School has an award-winning Fine Arts program, a student career internship program, athletic teams that have won SWC and State Championships, 44 clubs and a Campus Ministry and community service program that instills faith, compassion and reverence for others. Immaculate High School, founded in 1962, is a private, non-profit Catholic college-preparatory institution serving students from 28 communities in Connecticut and New York.
PHOTO: From left to right: Sarra Darby, Carolyn Jandura, Nikolas Bardinelli, Keelan Doherty, David Kallberg and Ross Relator