Honeywell volunteers lead middle school students participating in a global engineering and design competition to heighten interest in math and science education

ROLLE, Switzerland, Nov. 5, 2013: By taking part in the annual Honeywell/SAE Student Automotive Design Challenge (SADC), middle school students from around the world are extending their math and science education through a fun and enjoyable program designed to enhance student interest in future engineering and technical pursuits.

Now in its sixth year, the SADC program relies upon Honeywell volunteers to lead weekly classroom activities guiding students to realize their own capabilities for researching, designing, marketing and engineering a functioning electric gear-driven toy car. The end projects must meet certain performance characteristics which illustrate how well the students applied the lessons.

More than 300 students from schools located near Honeywell facilities across Europe, North America and Asia will develop and present their vision of a product achieving a set performance criteria and appealing to a market need. Throughout the process, they have access to Honeywell engineers assisting them in applying their theoretical knowledge of math, science, technology, social studies and language arts.

"Through the six years Honeywell has sponsored the SADC Challenge, we have been able to work with nearly 2,000 students around the world to perhaps develop a new generation of automotive engineering and technology professionals," said Honeywell Transportation Systems Chief Technology Officer Karl-Heinz Bauer. "By showing kids how theory and knowledge acquired in the classroom can be successfully applied in practice, we hope that they'll be inspired to see the fun in math, science and technology."

This year, students in seven countries will represent local Honeywell friction material and turbocharger operations in the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, Mexico, China and India.

The SADC Challenge is a co-sponsored program between Honeywell and SAE International, in which small groups of middle school students aged 11 to 14 employ a multi-disciplinary curriculum into the development of their final project. During the six to eight week in-class school curriculum, the students are connected to Honeywell engineers, who mentor and guide them through this process, giving the students an opportunity to connect and engage with the automotive industry.

The competition will close on the week of Nov. 25, 2013, by which time students will have submitted their written proposals, presentations, and short videos, detailing their projects. Local site winners will then compete against each other with Honeywell employees from around the world casting online votes through Jan. 17, 2014 to determine a winner. The winning team will be recognized by Honeywell throughout its global operations and will be hosted for a trip to an industry attraction linked to math, science or automotive technology.

For more information, please visit the Honeywell SADC Challenge website at SAE Honeywell