ACTE Student Trophy Design Contest Winners Set Standard for Excellence
ACTE is committed to providing career and technical education (CTE) students with opportunities to develop the skills they’ll need for success in a global economy. One such opportunity, the Student Trophy Design Contest, encourages secondary, postsecondary and adult CTE students in 3D design or CAD courses to develop and submit a trophy design that reflects the prestige of ACTE’s Excellence Awards program. Designs are then judged by ACTE staff and Stratasys Ltd. — a manufacturer of 3D printers and production systems — on visual appeal, function and structural integrity.
“Stratasys is pleased to partner with ACTE to create this contest for the students. It is clear that the educators are doing an outstanding job immersing the students in additive manufacturing and computer-aided drafting,” said Jesse Roitenberg, national education manager for Stratasys. “The trophy entries we have judged over the past three years are phenomenally designed and could not be created by any other manufacturing process.”
We are proud to announce that the winners of the 2018 ACTE Student Trophy Design Contest are Rashi Kejriwal and Shreya Santhanagopalan, of Ellicott City, Maryland, supported by their teacher, David Lucania.
The winners will receive a $1,000 scholarship prize, a one-year lease of a 3D printer (courtesy of Stratasys) and materials, and a trip to ACTE’s CareerTech VISION 2018 in San Antonio, Texas, where they will be recognized at the Awards Banquet. And here, an exclusive interview.
The Mount Hebron High School juniors, Kejriwal and Santhanagopalan, sat down with Techniques to discuss their interests in STEM now and in the future, and how they were inspired to enter — and ultimately win — the 2018 ACTE Student Trophy Design Contest.
Talk a little about yourself and your background, your school, your experience with CTE, and your plans for the future.
Rashi Kejriwal: I’m a junior in Howard County, Maryland, at Mount Hebron High School and I’m enrolled in the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) engineering classes at our school. Personally, apart from PLTW, I have always had a background in STEM. For example, I completed an assignment in elementary school in which students were tasked to design and build a city… Through these and other activities I have developed a strong interest toward multiple fields in engineering. In the future I want to pursue a career in which I can learn and contribute to society.
Shreya Santhanagopalan: I am also a junior at Howard County, Maryland’s Mount Hebron High School. From a young age, I was brought up to love engineering tasks and figuring out solutions to difficult problems. I began to learn to code when I was in fifth grade; in middle school I learned to create multiple apps with guidance. I am still exploring options for my future but I take great interest in computer science and engineering, and I plan to attend college until I receive a Master’s degree in my chosen field.
How and why did you decide to enter the ACTE Student Trophy Design Contest? What inspired your winning design?
Shreya Santhanagopalan: Rashi and I were intrigued when our teacher, Mr. Lucania, brought up the ACTE Student Trophy Design Contest in our shared Project Lead the Way class. After weeks of planning, in and outside of school, we had developed seven different design sketches…
Rashi Kejriwal: We combined the top portion of one remaining design with the bottom portion of the other to create our final design.
What guidance did your career and technical education teacher provide?
Rashi Kejriwal: When it came time to build the trophy, Mr. Lucania’s mentoring, along with the use of AutoDesk Inventor and its unique features, helped us turn our dreams into reality.
The trophy designed by Kejriwal and Santhanagopalan will be presented to ACTE’s national award winners at the Awards Banquet on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Check out the full list of finalists and make your plans to celebrate CTE on the first night of ACTE’s CareerTech VISION 2018, Nov. 28–Dec. 1, in San Antonio, Texas.
ACTE members can read the full interview, “ACTE Student Trophy Design Contest Winners Set Standard for Excellence,” in the October issue of Techniques today. Not a member? Join! ACTE is the largest national education association dedicated to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers.
