All Female Team From Annandale HS Wins Grant In Audi-STEM For Her: DRIVE Like A Girl Competition

Fairfax County Public Schools

December 18, 2020

A team of sophomores from Annandale High School won a $2,000 grant in the annual Audi-STEM for Her: DRIVE Like A Girl competition. Aisha Ismael, Katie Hutnan, Francesca Gabriel, and Tejh Hardin came up with a way to enhance the car buying and ownership process for female customers while considering the global pandemic and its effects. The team’s solution was an adaptive needs assessment that would identify buyers’ specific needs, reduce car buying and pandemic-related anxiety, and promote digitization and sustainability. The customer's answers influence the questions that follow, the salesperson they're matched with at the dealership, and the recommended vehicle model shown at the end. Technology education teacher Phillip Harris says the all-female team “wanted to make the process more personal and efficient, especially with the disconnect in communication caused by the pandemic.” Harris provided support and mentorship to the girls. The Audi of America DRIVE Like a Girl program is an annual science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) competition, in which high school girls from the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area identify, design, and present a project focused on the automotive industry. The objective of this year’s competition was to find a modern solution to make women feel more comfortable during the car buying and ownership process, as well as to encourage women to buy cars from Audi. With the ongoing pandemic, there was the added challenge of trying to find a solution that would be safe and would have minimal human contact. The students met with mentors from Audi for several weeks leading up to competition to develop a final idea and presentation. Annandale High will use the grant to fund future STEM and Technology Student Association competitions. Contact Philiip Harris at pcharris@fcps.edu.

This press release was produced by the Fairfax County Public Schools.The views expressed here are the author’s own.