ARLINGTON, Va.—Monday, June 22, 2020—The U.S. Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) is pleased to announce the 2019-20 National Winners of the 18th Annual eCYBERMISSION Competition. The winning teams were announced last Friday at the Virtual National Judging & Educational Event (NJ&EE) Awards Ceremony.

The web-based science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program—sponsored by the U.S. Army and administered by the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA)—is designed to cultivate student interest in STEM by encouraging students in grades six through nine to develop solutions to real-world problems in their local communities.

“The creativity and enthusiasm that students bring to the eCYBERMISSION competition every year is truly inspiring, and that has been particularly true this week at NJ&EE,” said Christina Weber, AEOP Cooperative Agreement Manager. “The national winners, who have made it through this rigorous process, represent the best in the country and should take great pride in their success.”

The winning teams were chosen from 20 National Finalist teams, which were selected from 2,923 teams that entered the 2019 competition. Since the program’s inception in 2002, eCYBERMISSION has awarded state, regional and national competition winners more than $10 million in U.S. savings bonds.

“The STEM projects presented this year by these resourceful teams provide true solutions to many of the challenges our communities are facing,” said Elizabeth Allan, NSTA President. “Congratulations to the national winning teams and their advisors on their outstanding projects that represent the kind of collaboration, creativity, and imagination that not only benefit the community, but also inspire students and teachers for years to come.”

Each member of the National Finalist teams received a total of $4,000 in U.S. E.E. Savings Bonds (matured value), and each member of the National Winning teams received a total of $10,000 U.S. E.E. Savings Bonds (matured value) each. The 2019-20 national winning teams are:

Sixth grade: Carbon Keepers
Felipe de Farias, Briley Siemens and Eliza Cole-Smith worked with Team Advisor Laura Wilbanks to discover an urgent action against Climate Change to prepare for a better world by 2030.

Seventh grade: Code Red
Alexa Tindall, Josiah Morales and Ethan Djajadi worked with Team Advisor Milene de Farias to discover a way to help lower the health risk to firefighters in their communities.

Eighth grade: Aquatech
Saranya Gadwala, Remi Ladia, Anish Paspuleti, and Advaith Gajulapally worked with Team Advisor Hima Lanka to address the problem of water wastage in household in their community.

Ninth grade: Psychologigals
Sruthi Kotlo, Divya Lidder and Anjana Ramachandran worked with Team Advisor Ramu Ramachandran to address the urgent need for helping diagnose depression.

NJ&EE was a virtual event this year, providing educational opportunities and team-building exercises for the eCYBERMISSION National Finalists and STEM-in-Action Grant recipients. Activities included a Department of Defense Careers Workshop featuring Army scientists and engineers, an interactive AEOP Alumni Panel presentation, judging by Army scientists and engineers, and a livestreamed showcase where students displayed and demonstrated their winning ideas with the opportunity to win prizes through votes for the People’s Choice Award. The highlight of NJ&EE was the Awards Ceremony, where the National Winning Team from each grade was announced.

For more information about the eCYBERMISSION competition, visit www.ecybermission.com or contact Mission Control at 1-866-GO-CYBER (462-9297) or via email at missioncontrol@ecybermission.com.

The United States Army has long recognized that a scientifically and technologically literate citizenry is our Nation’s best hope for a secure, rewarding and successful future. For over 50 years, the Army has supported a wide range of educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for our youth, college and graduate students, as well as our valued teachers. Our Nation’s economy has greatly benefited from the technological achievements of the last century and is destined for greater achieve­ments throughout the 21st century. For more information about AEOP, please visit www.usaeop.com.

eCYBERMISSION is a web-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competition for students in grades six through nine that promotes self-discovery and enables all students to recognize the real-life applications of STEM. Teams of three or four students are instructed to ask questions (for science) or define problems (for engineering), and then construct explanations (for science) or design solutions (for engineering) based on identified problems in their community. Students compete for State, Regional and National Awards. The U.S. Army is committed to answering the Nation’s need for increased national STEM literacy and to expanding STEM education opportunities across the country to open doors to new career paths for American students that lead to a brighter tomorrow.

The Arlington, VA-based National Science Teaching Association is the largest professional organization in the world promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning, preschool through college. NSTA's membership includes approximately 50,000 science teachers, science supervisors, administrators, scientists, business representatives and others involved in science education.

Colleen Minan, eCYBERMISSION
703-312-9388
cminan@ecybermission.com 

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