Bucharest Students Win Global Automotive Design Challenge Sponsored By Honeywell

BUCHAREST, Romania, March 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Full of drive and passion for automotive engineering, four middle school students from School No. 174 Constantin Brancusi were named champions of Honeywell's seventh annual Student Automotive Design Challenge (SADC), having distinguished themselves from their global peers. 

The annual Honeywell competition was comprised of more than 350 students representing communities where Honeywell Transportation Systems has facilities globally. Honeywell employee volunteers and local teachers mentor the students through weekly classroom activities during a two-month period. The curriculum uses math, science, technology, social studies and language arts as students are instructed in researching, designing, marketing and engineering a functioning electric gear-driven toy car that must meet performance standards.  

The winning team from Constantin Brancusi named its project CSIRobotics and was comprised of the following students: Alexandru Tudor Sima, project manager; Rares Stefan Rosu, engineering and technical manager; Mara Corina Gabriela Iordache, design manager; and, Mihai Silviu Chelariu, marketing manager.

"Honeywell's SADC program has provided a creative approach in attracting our students toward math, science and technology in way which was a lot of fun. Having the volunteers from Honeywell's locations help our students really drove home future opportunities for them as they had the chance to apply their theoretical knowledge of these subjects in practice in front of experts – and they enjoyed every moment of it," said Rodica Onofrei, a teacher at Constantin Brancusi and SADC program liaison.

The CSIRobotics team first won its local school competition before submitting its final video project for judging along with local winners from other student teams in the United States, Switzerland, Mexico, China, and France. Honeywell employees around the world selected the team. The winning team will be recognized by Honeywell throughout its global operations and will be hosted at an industry activity linked to math, science or automotive technology.

"The annual event is a big deal for our global employee base, and we had a record number of votes this year to illustrate the interest in this growing program," said Honeywell Transportation Systems Chief Technology Officer Craig Balis. "I'd like to thank Ms. Onofrei and all the teachers and school officials globally who help make this a success for the kids. We truly hope that all the students who participate had fun doing so and will pursue with a sincere interest their math and science studies. At Honeywell, we like to think that perhaps these are the first steps toward creating the next generation of engineering talent for companies to someday employ."

The SADC Challenge is co-sponsored by Honeywell and SAE International. Small groups of middle school students aged 11 to 14 employ a multi-disciplinary curriculum into the development of their final project. During the six to eight week in-class school curriculum, the students are connected to Honeywell volunteers, who mentor and guide them through this process, giving the students an opportunity to connect and engage with the automotive industry.

For more information, please visit the Honeywell SADC Challenge Facebook site at https://www.facebook.com/HoneywellSAEStudentChallenge.

About Honeywell

Honeywell Aerospace products and services are found on virtually every commercial, defense and space aircraft, and its turbochargers are used by nearly every automaker and truck manufacturer around the world. The Aerospace business unit develops innovative solutions for more fuel efficient automobiles and airplanes, more direct and on-time flights, safer flying and runway traffic, along with aircraft engines, cockpit and cabin electronics, wireless connectivity services, logistics and more. The business delivers safer, faster, and more efficient and comfortable transportation-related experiences worldwide. For more information, visit www.honeywell.com or follow us at @Honeywell_Aero and @Honeywell_Turbo.

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com.

About SAE International
SAE International is a global association of more than 134,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. SAE International's core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development. SAE International's charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World in Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series.

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SOURCE Honeywell Transportation Systems

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