Xavier Wins 2011-12 Real World Design Challenge

two engineering teams travelled to Washington D.C. over the weekend to participate in the Real World Design Challenge national competitions in Aviation and Surface Transportation.

Team Xavier representing Xavier High School won the 2011-2012 National Finals Competition in Surface Transportation for designing a next-generation motor coach that enhances fuel efficiency. 

Xavier's Surface Transportation team members are:

• Jeff Witz `13 of New Britain
• Tyler Cusack `13 of Clinton
• John Reidy `13 of Northford
• Mark Breault `13 of Ivoryton
• Brian Wilcox `14 of Marlborough
• Mark Capel `15 of East Haddam
• Stephen Bruno `15 of North Branford

and unofficial members who helped are Numad Cheema `15 of Rocky Hill and Anthony Plochocki `15 of Berlin.

This year's Aviation team was made up of five seniors and two juniors:

• Chris Muckle `12 of Madison
• John Voelker `12 of Southington
• Miraj Rahematpura `12 of Middletown
• Andrew Moeller `12 of Northford
• Giovanni Sabato `12 of Middletown
• Mario Chris `13 of Storrs
• Zach Ziobrowski `13 of Cheshire

State Senator Len Suzio (R- 13^th District) attended the practice run for both teams and presented moderator Michael Humphreys `04 and the teams with an Official Citation from the Connecticut General Assembly: "Congratulations on this remarkable achievement which shows your commitment to excellence in engineering."

The RWDC Surface Transportation Challenge was introduced this year for the first time as a Pilot Program. Over past four years, thousands of teams have participated in the Real World Design Challenge Aviation competition and for the past three years, Xavier's aviation team has won the state competitions and represented Connecticut in the national competitions, last year winning the national competition.

This year RWDC added the new Challenge focused on surface transportation and automotive design. Students were required to design a motor coach for enhanced fuel efficiency. There were 55 submissions in this new category and just one large national competition with judging done virtually. Team Xavier was notified in advance of their victory and received a free trip to Washington, D.C., to present their work at the National Finals of the Aviation competition. The team delivered a 15 minute PowerPoint Presentation on their work to the whole group at the 4-H Center on Saturday.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood presented the trophy to the team at the National Air and Space Museum on Saturday evening.

This year the top three teams in the Aviation Challenge were Nevada, Pennsylvania and Kansas. All participating teams had the same suite of professional tools that all Real World Design Challenge teams get, which are valued at $1 dollars per team.

CT State Senator Len Suzio (R- 13^th District) presented moderator Michael Humphreys`04 and the teams with an Official Citation from the Connecticut General Assembly offering "Congratulations on this remarkable achievement which shows your commitment to excellence in engineering." The Aviation team is on the left and the Surface Transportation Team is on the right.