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April 1, 2025- The East Coast Space Design Competition was hosted at High ÀÖÓãÌåÓý North March 15. It was a high-intensity yet fun industry simulation event in which students adopted professional roles, were given industry specific challenges, and were tasked to deliver real world solutions.

Seven New Jersey high schools were represented: HSN along with High ÀÖÓãÌåÓý East and High ÀÖÓãÌåÓý South, Colts Neck, Holmdel, Neptune, and Old Bridge. Industry professionals, parents, and the Central Ocean Rotary Club volunteered their time to help make the event happen.

Students learned how to read and execute an RFP (Request for Proposal) to propose the design of a vehicle in order to enable long-term surface exploration on the planet Mars. That prospective mission would involve identifying candidate sites for a future settlement on the Martian surface.

They worked for nine hours after two hours of instruction to make a 25-minute slideshow of their proposal, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A to explain their design. The Brick Morning Rotary Club sponsored the event's T-shirts, which were made by Farro's Tees.

Students worked with engineers Hayley Spears, Jack Gafford, and Glenn Shevach—who volunteered their own time and who work at NASA—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Boeing, and the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD). The judging panel of engineers also included Ty White, the 2023 Arizona Teacher of the Year and 2024 National Air and Space Forces Association (AFA)/ Rolls-Royce Teacher of the Year; Dr. Maria Agapito, president of the NJ Academy of Science; structural engineer Ted Betz, representing the NJ Society of Professional Engineers; architect Henry Hengchua; and retired IT professional George Hanna.

Liam Mahon (HSN Class of '21) and Avery Munoz from Rutgers University mentored students throughout the day. Name-tag lanyards were donated by Camp Invention and Lectec, which was recently featured on "Shark Tank." Notebooks with graph paper in them for sketching designs were donated by AEOP (The Army Education Outreach Program).

"I am so proud of the time and effort these students gave to have a real-world Industry simulation education experience," said teacher and event organizer Christine Girtain.

Twelve students will move on to the international finals at Kennedy Space Center in July.