Delbarton School Wins 2012 Panasonic Creative Design Challenge At NJIT

SECAUCUS, N.J., April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of three students from Delbarton School (Morristown, NJ) has taken home top honors from among 27 high school teams across New Jersey for their innovative design and engineering of a space exploration robotic device in the Panasonic Creative Design Challenge (CDC) held yesterday on the campus of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).  Academy for Engineering and Design Technology (Hackensack, NJ) placed second in the competition while Ramapo High School placed third and Chatham High School placed fourth.  Teams from Delbarton School have won the event four out of the last five years and were the runner-up in the 2011 competition.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120425/NY94971 )

Founded in 1991, the Panasonic Creative Design Challenge is the premier science and technology competition for New Jersey high school students and is co-sponsored by NJIT.

The theme of this year's challenge "Mars 3000," required each team to design and build a remote controlled robotic device capable of maneuvering through an obstacle course and completing several tasks associated with space exploration, including landing the device; maneuvering out of a crater and through difficult terrain; and delivering materials to a space craft.  The space-theme of this year's competition was based upon ongoing efforts in the international aeronautics community to determine the presence of water on Mars, and thus, its habitability. 

In the finals, student teams demonstrated their robotic space exploration device and were judged on the quality of their written report, oral presentation, engineering logbook entries, as well as the performance of their device.  More than $40,000 in individual scholarships and prizes are awarded to the top four schools.

The three winning students from the Delbarton School championship team were each awarded $5,000 scholarships.  The Academy for Engineering and Design Technology team students each received $4,000 scholarships and students from the third and fourth place teams each received $3,000 and $2,000 individual scholarships respectively.

"For over 20 years Panasonic, along with NJIT, has witnessed some of New Jersey's brightest young students in action in the Panasonic Creative Design Challenge and in the 2012 competition we saw some of best designs to date," said Joseph M. Taylor, Chairman & CEO, Panasonic Corporation of North America.  "We were extremely impressed with the high level of engineering and science skills which all of the student teams exhibited.  Beyond the technical expertise of these students, is their commitment to teamwork and an overall sense of camaraderie among competitors around a common interest.  I want to congratulate all of the student teams for their remarkable work this year and hope that this experience will inspire them to continue to develop their skills."

The Panasonic Creative Design Challenge scores student teams not only on their success at designing and maneuvering a robotic device, but also judges competitors on all phases of design and execution. Modeling a real-world engineering process, the Creative Design Challenge requires students to keep an engineering log book with their robotics designs and notes, submit a written report and give an oral presentation that tests their communication skills. All 27 teams competing in the finals had already completed a rigorous preliminary competition in which 49 New Jersey schools competed for a spot in the finals.

For complete results and more information on the Panasonic Creative Design Challenge, please visit http://www.panasonic.com/cdc.

About Panasonic Corporation of North America

Based in Secaucus, NJ, Panasonic Corporation of North America provides a broad line of digital and other electronics products for consumer, business and industrial use. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic Corporation (NYSE: PC), and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Information about Panasonic and its products is available at www.panasonic.com and its Full HD 3D site at www.panasonic.com/3D. 

Panasonic is pledged to practice prudent, sustainable use of the earth's natural resources and protect our environment through the company's Eco Ideas programs. Panasonic was the only Consumer Electronics company to be listed in the top ten brands on the Interbrand Best Global Green Brands 2011 ranking. Follow Panasonic @panasonicdirect, and additional company information for media is available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom.

About NJIT

NJIT, New Jersey's science and technology university, enrolls more than 8,800 students pursuing bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in 120 programs. The university consists of six colleges: Newark College of Engineering, College of Architecture and Design, College of Science and Liberal Arts, School of Management, College of Computing Sciences and Albert Dorman Honors College. U.S. News & World Report's 2009 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT in the top tier of national research universities. NJIT is internationally recognized for being at the edge in knowledge in architecture, applied mathematics, wireless communications and networking, solar physics, advanced engineered particulate materials, nanotechnology, neural engineering and e-learning. Many courses and certificate programs, as well as graduate degrees, are available online through the Office of Continuing Professional Education.

Photo Caption:

(From left to right) Delbarton School (Morristown, NJ) students Thomas Hartke, Daniel Blanc and Steven Rybicki along with their faculty advisor Mr. Greg Devine (back right) pose with the Panasonic Creative Design Challenge championship trophy at NJIT campus.  The team of students was top among 27 high school teams from across New Jersey for their innovative design and engineering of a space exploration robotic device in the Panasonic Creative Design Challenge (CDC) held yesterday on the campus of the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  Each of the students was awarded a $5,000 scholarship and other prizes.

SOURCE Panasonic