20 National Finalist Teams Advance in the U.S. Army's 2015-16 eCYBERMISSION Competition

Teams Will Compete to Win Up to $9,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds at the Competitions' National Judging & Educational Event

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The U.S. Army today announced that 20 student teams have been selected as national finalists in the 14th annual eCYBERMISSION competition. The web-based science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program—sponsored by the U.S. Army and administered by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)—is designed to cultivate student interest in STEM by encouraging students in grades six through nine to develop solutions to real-world problems in their local communities.

The national finalist teams will advance to eCYBERMISSION’s National Judging and Educational Event (NJ&EE), taking place in Washington, D.C. metropolitan area June 20-24.

The national finalists were selected from a competitive group of 60 regional finalists by a panel of judges consisting of U.S. Army STEM professionals. Each team presented a live, four-minute presentation on their project and then participated in an in-depth Q & A. The regional judges looked at how well teams effectively identified problems in their community using STEM to propose a solution.

“The U.S. Army is pleased with the amazing pool of talent displayed nationally from the national finalists in this year’s eCYBERMISSION competition,” said Louie R. Lopez, AEOP Cooperative Agreement Manager. “Congratulations to all of the visionary and hardworking national finalist teams. I look forward to meeting each team at the National Judging and Educational Event.”

“These outstanding students recognized challenges that exist in their local communities and explored ways to solve them,” said Dr. David Evans, NSTA Executive Director. “We applaud the teams on their innovative projects. Their work is impressive.”

The national finalists focused their projects on one of seven mission challenges that affected their community, including alternative sources of energy; the environment; food; health and fitness; force and motion; national security and safety; and robotics. As national finalists, each team member will receive $2,000 in U.S. Series EE Savings Bonds and an all-expenses paid trip to NJ&EE to compete for the first-place national award in their grade.

In addition to the national awards, the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) is giving up to five STEM-in-Action grants to select eCYBERMISSION regional and national finalist teams to implement solutions in their local communities based on the results of their projects. Each winning team will be awarded a $5,000 grant. The grants are independent of the selection of the national winners.

2016 National Finalist Teams

North Central Region

• 6^th – ERMS Raptors 1, Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School, Dubuque, IA
• 7^th – Team ARIS, Sudheesh Nair, Aurora, IL
• 8^th – Ride Yellow Go Green, Parent Mentor, Aurora, IL
• 9^th – AMPire, Home-based, Naperville, IL

North East Region

• 6^th – Pandanet, Greenbriar West Elementary School, Fairfax, VA
• 7^th – RCMS SARK, Rachel Carson Middle School, Herndon, VA
• 8^th – Rocky Run, Home-based, Centreville, VA
• 9^th – Stressors, G.W. Hewlett High School, Hewlett, NY

South East Region

• 6^th – Las Chicas de Puerto Rico, Ramey School, Aguadilla, PR
• 7^th – Mission ESEG, Falcon Cove Middle, Weston, FL
• 8^th – Team EYE, White Station Middle School, Memphis, TN
• 9^th – FCHS1, Forsyth Central High School, Cumming, GA

South Central Region

• 6^th – Envo, Randall G Lynch Middle School, Farmington, AR
• 7^th – Silver Bullet, Whiteface Science Rocks U, Whiteface, TX
• 8^th – Artemis, Academic Center of Science, Frisco, TX
• 9^th – Myto-critters, Taos Middle/High School, Taos, NM

West Region

• 6^th – C.O.W. Conserve Our Water, Hyde Park Middle School Academy of Science and Mathematics, Las Vegas, NV
• 7^th – The Blaze Barrier, Mirman School, Los Angeles, CA
• 8^th – Got Science??, Serrano Intermediate, Lake Forest, CA
• 9^th – Gold Nano-particles and Water Filtration, Sun River Valley School District, Simms, MT

The NJ&EE is a week-long event providing educational opportunities and team-building exercises for the students. This year’s event features a live-streamed national showcase and awards luncheon, tour of Washington, D.C., and a STEM Challenge featuring demonstrations and hands-on activities.

About AEOP

The Army Educational Outreach Program is comprised of Army-sponsored research, education, competitions, internships and practical experiences designed to engage and guide students as well as teachers in STEM. Led by Battelle, the AEOP consortium is made up of nine organizations, including NSTA, representing all individual programs and consortium-wide efforts. The idea of the consortium is to exceed the individual work of existing programs by joining forces. The Army is committed to increasing the STEM talent pool in order to ensure our national security and global competitiveness.

About NSTA

The Arlington, VA-based National Science Teachers Association is the largest professional organization in the world promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. NSTA's current membership includes approximately 55,000 science teachers, science supervisors, administrators, scientists, business and industry representatives, and others involved in science education.