CLERMONT, Fla. – The Knights of Aeronautics from East Ridge High School are now state champions in the Real World Design Challenge.
The Clermont-area high school team completed a real engineering task as part of the annual competition for grades 9-12. Each year, students are asked to address a challenge that confronts different industries.
[TRENDING: Winter storm shuts down Fla. schools | Fla. man arrested in Capitol riot: I was following Trump’s orders | Shoe removed from 341-pound croc]
“It’s like a real business. A real engineering task. And the kids are put in the grinders to find out what’s going on and it’s a process. The kids learn from it and of course the teachers learn from it at the same time,” teacher John Raulerson said.
The task this year was to build an aircraft system to deliver packages. Raulerson said their design rivals Amazon and includes a separate system that autonomously loads packages. Raulerson said they have three pending utility patents.
The world championship is in April. The seven-member team will present virtually to judges based in Washington D.C.
Raulerson said the team is raising money to pay for patent applications, a championship banner for the school and team shirts. If you’d like to donate, you can send to the following address:
Attn: Bookkeeper
East Ridge High School
13322 Excalibur Rd
Clermont, Fla. 34711