Army Announces Nat’l Winners of eCYBERMISSION STEM Student Competition

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, on behalf of the Army Educational Outreach Program announced Friday the winners of the 2013-2014 national winners of the eCYBERMISSION competition.

The Army Educational Outreach program said that the online competition, administered by the National Science Teachers Association, aims to build student interest in science, technology, engineering and math by allowing students to develop solutions to real-life problems in their communities.

RDECOM Deputy Director Jyuji Hewitt said, “In order to ensure our Soldiers get the best technology, you have to have scientists and engineers that work to bring that technology forward. To get those scientists and engineers for the future, we need programs like this to get that passion for STEM back into our young children.”

The eCYBERMISSION is one of several U.S. army sponsored STEM programs, with each member of the four winning teams receiving $5,000 in U.S. E.E. Savings Bonds (matured value), in addition to the $1,000 awarded to them as state winners and $2,000 as regional first-place winners. .

“One of the most important aspects of eCYBERMISSION is its emphasis on teamwork and the collaborative process to accomplish a mission and achieve results,” said Mary Miller, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Research and Technology. “These capabilities are fundamental to an effective military, as well as many American industries, and we want to foster their development in our next generation.”

The winning 6th-9th grade teams were chosen from 20 finalists, out of an overall 4,400 teams that entered the competition this year.