Area Students Compete in Annual JETS TEAMS Event

The University of Cincinnati (UC) again hosts the annual "Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science" (TEAMS) competition for the Junior Engineering Technical Society (

JETS

) in Tangeman University Center (TUC) on

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

.

More than 450 students from high schools in Ohio and Kentucky go up against each other for scholarships in the annual competition, which is sponsored by the College of Engineering for UC. The UC site hosts traditionally one of the largest, if not the largest JETS TEAMS competition in the nation.

Date:           March 5, 2008
Time:          8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location:   TUC, Great Hall

TEAMS is sponsored nationally by JETS, the Junior Engineering Technical Society. More than 50 years old, JETS is a nationwide nonprofit organization that promotes high-school interest nationwide in engineering, science, mathematics and technology. JETS programs aim at getting students involved with engineering and preparing for future careers while still in high school. A promising trend is the increase of high school women who participate in JETS TEAMS.  In UC’s 2007 competition, 42% were high-school women.

While nationally, the percentage of young women entering the engineering fields has stalled or declined, UC's programs geared toward encouraging minorities and women in engineering are thriving.

Each year, more than 20,000 top high-school students and coaches participate in more than 100 TEAMS sites across the country. March’s TEAMS event is sponsored by the University of Cincinnati’s College of Engineering. The competition at UC is the largest TEAMS competition in the nation.

This year Martin Simoni, Site Director for Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Xetron Campus in Cincinnati, will be presenting awards to four attending high schools. Simoni has been with Northrop Grumman for 20 years holding various positions in field engineering, manufacturing, program management, business development and other leadership roles, most recently in Ocean Springs, Miss., before becoming Xetron’s site director in Cincinnati.

From this one-day, two-part TEAMS competition, local, state and national awards and recognition are determined. Each team will compete at the varsity or junior varsity level in one of seven school-based divisions, which are determined by school size and selectivity of admissions.

Top-scoring teams in each division in each state are then eligible for national ranking, which will be determined by eligible teams’ performance on Part II of the test. Part I awards will be presented at UC on competition day, March 5, to the winners of the regional portion of the test.

This interscholastic competition helps prepare students for the future today. Students learn how math and science concepts they learn in high school apply to real-world problems. The TEAMS program encourages tomorrow’s engineers to work cooperatively and think critically.

Many former JETS TEAMS competitors have enrolled in the UC College of Engineering. We look forward to welcoming them back as future UC alumni.

The JETS TEAMS competition takes place Wednesday, March 5, from approximately 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Tangeman University Center (TUC).

Read more about the College of Engineering Pre-Admission activities.

Read about previous years' JETS TEAMS competitions at UC:

• 2007
• 2006
• 2005