Today, Richland High School will be one of seven regional schools participating in the "Real World Design Challenge," a national competition through the U.S. Department of Energy.

Pennsylvania is one of 10 states participating and the challenge has been made possible in the state through the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiative.

No strangers to competition, the Technology Student Association members are ready for the challenge.

On Feb. 23, students competed against more than 250 others from nine schools at Penn Valley Junior/Senior High School in State College. Thirty-seven top five finishers were from Richland High School.

From April 9-12, the students competed at the Pennsylvania Student Association Conference, where 18 of 20 Richland students placed within the to 10 in the state. More than 1,500 students statewide competed.

Tanner Huffman, one of the group's advisers, said because students already have a good grasp on the Pro/Engineering software that will be used in the competition, he expects the team to fare well.

"We do expect to do well because they know a lot about the software already," he said.

Also, the students have already demonstrated success at larger competitions.

"The biggest thing about this is this is the first year they are going to do it," Huffman said. "The opportunity is there for (students) to do well, not only regionally, but statewide and nationally."

Students are posed with a real problem that is being addressed by the aviation industry. This challenge will focus on energy efficiency in aeronautics, according to a press release.

Huffman said he is looking forward to the opportunity for his students. "I always get excited when there are opportunities for students to showcase the things they have learned in my classroom," he said. "The STEM challenge is particularly exciting because of the amount industry/govnerment correlation that is involved."

The challenge is open to all students, with first opportunity extended to those in Huffman's computer aided drafting and design (CADD) classes. A team of five to seven students will be chosen.

Although Huffman admits the students may be a bit intimidated by the scope of the project, they are excited.

"They do like the idea of being able to work on something that might be someday used in the aeronautics industry."

Students will compete in the statewide challenge in order to move on to the national challenge, which will be held in Washington, D.C. Difficulty increases from on level to the next, according to information from the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Kids get to be involved in a real world design challenge," said Huffman. "It's a challenge right now that there isn't an answer to."

Students will have access to mentors and work as a design team, Huffman said, to come up with a solution to the challenge.

Engineers, scientists, college and university faculty and teachers will review the submissions, according to a press release from Governor Rendell's office.

"Thanks to this effort, students will have access to a global engineering education program that will help prepare them with the capabilities needed to succeed," said Pa. Secretary Gerald Zahorchak in a press release. "They can tap into the latest technology and the brightest mentoring minds to learn to be innovative and creative. The end result is highly skilled students who can keep our workforce strong and competitive for years to come."

Software to aid in the challenge has been donated to participating schools from the Parametric Technology Corp. and Flomerics Inc. The Department of Energy and the Federal Aviation Administration will supply the mentors for the challenge. Hewlett-Packard is supplying servers for software and to "facilitate collaboration between participants," the release said.