Alabama's "Best in State" Winners Hail From Montgomery and Huntsville in 2011 Jets Engineering Competition

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Students from Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School in Montgomery and the Randolph School in Huntsville have been named "Best in State" winners in Alabama in the Junior Engineering Technical Society's (JETS) 2011 TEAMS competition.  These award-winning ninth to 12th graders worked to solve the global energy "supply and demand" problem highlighted by the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill and current events in the Middle East.    

The Montgomery Catholic students were named the top 9/10 grade level team, while the Randolph School students took the top 11/12 grade prize.  As "Best in State" winners, the two teams receive award banners, medals and certificates and will now vie for national awards to be announced in May.

With the 2011 theme, "Smarter Energy, Cleaner Planet," both Montgomery Catholic and Randolph School students tackled the issues at Auburn University on February 25.  They were among more than 10,000 TEAMS participants from communities around the country who experienced first-hand how engineers are involved in addressing the global energy issue.

"Congratulations to Alabama's 'Best in State' winners.  We at JETS are enormously proud of your ability and willingness to offer solutions for diversifying the U.S. energy supply, defending our energy infrastructure and identifying existing and new technologies to make our homes, vehicles, buildings and industries more energy efficient and our environment cleaner," said Linda Snow-Solum, JETS president.  

Like the other signature JETS programs, the purpose of TEAMS is to encourage more American students to pursue engineering by showing them how engineering impacts everyday life and how engineers help solve social and community problems.

About JETS

JETS is a national non-profit education organization dedicated to promoting engineering and helping students discover their potential for the profession.  

A solid framework of high school educators, corporations, professional organizations and universities incorporate JETS pre-college engineering programs in local communities throughout the United States.  JETS programs touch more than 40,000 students and 10,000 educators from 6,000 high schools across the country.  JETS participants are a diverse group – more than 50 percent are from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in engineering and technology fields, including one-third who are female.  

For more information, please visit, www.JETS.org.

SOURCE Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS)