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Hillsborough Middle School Student Takes Second Place In EngineerGirl Essay Contest

Hillsborough Middle School student Diana Voronin took second place in the National Academy of Engineering's annual EngineerGirl essay competition. 

This year's question asked students from all over the country to reflect on how engineering has impacted social needs for the past 50 years and their predictions for how it will effect social needs in the next 50 years. 

According to The National Academy of Engineering: 

The National Academy of Engineering today announced the winners of its 2014 EngineerGirl essay competition. This year’s essay contest was held as the NAE celebrates its 50th anniversary and asked students in grades three to 12 to describe how engineering has addressed societal needs in the past 50 years and suggest ways that engineering will impact society in the next 50 years in one of the following areas: nutrition, health, communication, education, and transportation. Prizes were awarded to students in three categories based on grade level.

“This year’s essay competition supports beautifully the 50th anniversary celebration of the NAE. The contestants present their ideas for the most important impacts of engineering on our lives they expect over the next half century, “ said NAE President C. D. Mote, Jr. “It is inspiring to see young people be so passionate about engineering, and dreaming about a future that they will create.”

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Cora Oldfield, a fifth-grader from Amherst, N.Y., placed first among third- to fifth-grade students for her essay on engineering efforts toward preventing and treating malaria. Eighth-grader Ruth Hammond from H.H. Poole Middle School in Stafford, Va., won first place among entries from grades six to eight for her explanation of the wide-ranging roles engineers play in the field of nutrition. Among ninth- to 12th-graders, Isabella Lee, a 10th-grade student at Illinois Math and Science Academy in Springfield, Ill., placed first for her narrative essay about the advancements in surgical procedures that rely on engineering.

Read all of the essays.

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Awards are $500 for first place, $250 for second place, and $100 for third place. Certificates are being given for honorable mentions. Additional winners are listed below:

Grades three to five:

• Second Place: Katelyn Moore, in fifth grade at David L. Ranier in Kingsland, Ga., for “Life In Projection”
• Third Place: Kennison Blackerby, in fourth grade at Woodbine Elementary School in Waverly, Ga., for “Agricultural Engineering in Poultry Production”
• Honorable Mention: Emma DiGuglielmo, in fourth grade at Forge Road Elementary School in Annville, Pa., for “The Future of Healthcare Engineering and 3D Printing” 
• Honorable Mention: Madelyn Heaston, a home-schooled fourth-grader in Rogers, Ark., for “Engineering and Technology in Education”

Grades six to eight:

Second Place: Diana Voronin, in eighth grade at Hillsborough Middle School in Hillsborough, N.J., for “Engineering a Healthier Future”
• Third Place: Nandita Naik, in seventh grade at Cupertino Middle School in Los Altos, Calif., for “Nano Warriors: The New Frontier in Health Engineering”
• Honorable Mention: Abigail Ward, in sixth grade at Old Mill Middle School South in Pasadena, Md., for “The Future of Transportation”
• Honorable Mention: Aniyah Adams, in seventh grade at St. Paul's School for Girls in Dundalk, Md., for “Prosthetics-Biomedical Engineering”

Grades nine to 12:

• Second Place: Jessica Miller, in 11th grade at Oakton High School in Vienna, Va., for “Technology: From Chalkboards to Intelligent Desks”
• Third Place: Katie Morse, in ninth grade at EC Glass High School in Lynchburg, Va., for “Fifty Years of Engineering Impacting Our Health”
• Honorable Mention: Emma Woods, in 10th grade at Waubonsie Valley High School in Naperville, Ill., for “Genetic Engineers: Feeding the World's Growing Population”
• Honorable Mention: Sara Buerk, in 12th grade at La Salle Catholic College Preparatory in Portland, Ore., for “Engineering Life”

EngineerGirl is designed for girls in elementary through high school and offers information about various engineering fields and careers, questions and answers, interviews, and other resources on engineering. A survey of contest participants indicated that 63 percent of girls were more likely to consider an engineering career after writing their essay. EngineerGirl and Engineer Your Life, a website for academically prepared high school girls, are part of the NAE's ongoing efforts to increase the diversity of the engineering workforce.

The mission of the NAE is to advance the well-being of the nation by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and by marshalling the expertise and insights of eminent engineers to provide independent advice to the federal government on matters involving engineering and technology. The NAE is part of the National Academies (along with the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council), an independent, nonprofit organization chartered by Congress to provide objective analysis and advice to the nation on matters of science, technology, and health.



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