May 15, 2009

Beth Dickey Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2087 beth dickey-1@nasa gov

Kathy Barnstorff Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va 757-864-9886, 757-344-8511 kathy barnstorff@nasa gov

RELEASE: 09-108

NASA NAMES WINNERS IN HIGH SCHOOL SUPERSONIC RESEARCH CONTEST

WASHINGTON -- Airplanes shaped like huge darts and rocket ships -- that's what the future of supersonic passenger travel may look like, according to a number of high school students

Teenagers from eight states and 11 foreign countries imagined that future as part of a competition sponsored by NASA The students were asked to write a well-documented research paper describing what needs to be accomplished to make supersonic flight available to commercial passengers by 2020

Edric San-Miguel, a junior from Norfolk Technical Center in Norfolk, Va , earned the top score among all the entries Sidharth Krishnan, a senior from Anglo-Chinese Junior College in Singapore, won top honors in the non-U S category

More than 120 teenagers submitted 60 entries in four categories: U S individual, U S team, non-U S individual and non-U S team A junior and senior from Arcadia High School in Arcadia, Calif , led the American teams Three ninth-graders from the National High School of Computer Science in Tudor Vianu, Bucharest, Romania won the top prize for non-U S teams

"All the conceptual designs were imaginative and innovative," said Bob Mack, a veteran supersonics researcher at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va , who reviewed all the top papers "The design in the winning paper showed the student had a definite respect and appreciation for technical realities while still being imaginative "

Students could choose from two options in the competition They could write a research paper to discuss the challenges and solutions of supersonic flight or propose a design for a small supersonic airliner that could enter commercial service in 2020

A group of NASA engineers reviewed all the entries The judges based their scores on how well students focused their papers and how well they addressed four basic criteria: informed content, creativity and imagination, organization, and writing

NASA will award the top scoring papers from the U S a cash prize of $1,000 for the individual award winner and $1,500 for the team Non-U S students will receive an engraved trophy, but are not eligible for cash prizes All participants will receive a NASA certificate The competition was sponsored by the Fundamental Aeronautics Program of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Washington

For a complete list of winners and details of their designs, visit:

http://www aeronautics nasa gov/competition_winners htm

For more information about NASA's aeronautics research, visit:

http://aeronautics nasa gov

For more information about NASA and other agency programs, visit:

http://www nasa gov

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