Elon to host national high school engineering competition

Elon University has been accepted as an official competition site for the 2012 JETS TEAMS Competition.

TEAMS is an annual competition that gives high school students the opportunity to discover their potential for engineering. It is a national effort coordinated by the Junior Engineering Technical Society, and the selection as a host university carries the honor and prestige of bringing a national initiative to the local community.

Sirena Hargrove-Leak, an assistant professor of engineering, has been engaged in engineering outreach to local elementary schools for severalyears and said she saw this as an opportunity to expand the outreach efforts of the Dual Degree Engineering Program to include high school students. Hargrove-Leak and and Rich D’Amato, director of engineering programs at the university, will invite all of the Alamance-Burlington high schools and some from surrounding counties to participate.

The Elon University JETS TEAMS Competition is currently scheduled for Feb. 23, 2012, as part of the community observance of National Engineers Week.