ROME — The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate, in partnership with the Griffiss Institute, recently hosted the 11th Annual AFRL Challenge Competition as one of their joint STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) initiatives. The 2019 AFRL Challenge Competition began Monday, April 15, and ended on Friday, April 19, at the Griffiss Institute […]
ROME — The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate, in partnership with the Griffiss Institute, recently hosted the 11th Annual AFRL Challenge Competition as one of their joint STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) initiatives.
The 2019 AFRL Challenge Competition began Monday, April 15, and ended on Friday, April 19, at the Griffiss Institute in Rome.
The following 10 area high schools participated in the challenge, according to a Griffiss Institute news release.
Central Valley Academy
• Students: Dale Windecker and Carter Wynn
• Teacher: Wes Laurion
Clinton Central School
• Students: Jessica Ritz and Kim Rivera
• Teacher: Laura Broccoli
Frankfort-Schuyler Central School
• Students: Ryan Janis and John Tofani
• Teacher: Christopher Snell
Holland Patent Central School
• Students: Emmalee Howard and Jacqueline Mann
• Teacher: Richard Zacek
Holy Cross Academy
• Students: Noelle DiRuzzo and Lily Domes
• Teacher: John DiRuzzo
Oriskany Central School
• Students: Wesley Appler and Joshua Macera
• Teacher: Teresa Mann
Remsen Central School
• Students: Sydney Boucher and Shaun Graves
• Teacher: Dan O’Bryan
Rome Free Academy
• Students: Elena Davis and Chris Incorvaia
• Teacher: Albert Bangs
Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central School
• Students: Nathan Angell and Eric Surprenant
• Teacher: Sondra Whalen
Westmoreland Central School
• Students: Austen Bowers and Jarrett Flint
• Teacher: Nick Darrah
While all 10 teams were recognized for their “hard work and efforts,” three teams stood out and were awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place titles, the release stated.
The winners of the 11th Annual AFRL Challenge Competition were:
• 1st Place: Jessica Ritz and Kim Rivera, Clinton Central School
• 2nd Place: Ryan Janis and John Tofani, Frankfort-Schuyler Central School
• 3rd Place: Wesley Appler and Joshua Macera, Oriskany Central School
Ritz and Rivera, as the first-place winners, had the option to choose their prize — paid summer internships at AFRL or Griffiss Institute, or receiving a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet computer. They chose to intern at AFRL. Janis and Tofani chose to take home a Microsoft Surface Pro, while Appler and Macera will intern at the Griffiss Institute.
The AFRL Challenge Competition is an annual competitive STEM initiative for local high-school students. It was held during a week when students are on a school break and seeks to provide a “more realistic view into the types of high-tech problems the nation is facing today, and how engineers and researchers go about dissecting and solving these problems,” per the release. The Griffiss Institute called it a “mental marathon.”
This year’s challenge problem was developed by the Information Exploitation & Operations Division of the AFRL Information Directorate.
The teams received the challenge problem upon arrival Monday morning, April 15, and had four days to solve it. AFRL engineers and scientists were on hand to answer questions regarding the challenge problem throughout the week.
Many of the students who participated in the competition found that it was the first time they had ever had a problem to solve that encompasses what they learn in every academic area in school — from politics, to English, to math and science.
It gave many of the participants a new perspective on the field of engineering and they had a chance to learn more about the work that takes place at the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate and the Griffiss Institute.
On Friday, April 19, competition judging began in the morning, followed by a poster session, luncheon at noon, and awards ceremony, where local dignitaries — Rome Mayor Jacqueline Izzo, Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon, and Kimberly Tobin a staff person from Congressman Anthony Brindisi’s office — along with parents, friends, and staff from local tech companies, were on hand to support, congratulate, and recognize these potential technology leaders of tomorrow.
Colonel Timothy Lawrence, director of the AFRL Information Directorate, gave the keynote address at the awards ceremony. He told the students, “I’d like to hire you, maybe not today, but down the road. Keep us in mind. There’s a ton of tech here in Rome, New York.”
The judges for this year’s competition were:
• Samuel Allen, computer engineer, AFRL Information Directorate
• Jerry Dussault, principal engineer, Griffiss Institute
• Dan Fayette, principal engineer, Griffiss Institute
This year’s AFRL Challenge Competition received sponsorship support from CUBRC, Mohawk Valley EDGE, and A Moveable Feast by O’Connor’s, per the release.
The Griffiss Institute is a nonprofit whose primary role is to advocate and facilitate the co-operation of private industry, academia, and the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate, in developing solutions to critical cyber security problems.