Brentwood teen Cyrus Dastur, who attends Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades, was one of 304 students from 38 countries and 33 U.S. states and territories chosen to attend 2014 Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy (HLCA) at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) in Alabama.
Dastur was one of seven students chosen from California.
The international program is designed to build their leadership skills and to inspire the next generation of students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
HLCA activities included shuttle missions, weightlessness training, simulated jet-fighter pilot training, scenario-based space-walking missions, designing, and building and testing their own rockets.
The unique leadership program ran over two consecutive weeklong programs from Feb. 21 to March 7 at the USSRC in Huntsville, Alabama.
Activities were delivered in fun and innovative ways that brought STEM studies to life.
The program was designed to build students’ leadership skills and develop their capacities through hands on challenges.
During the program, the students met scientists, engineers, and former astronauts who reinforced core leadership competencies and shared their first-hand professional experiences.
Students engaged in team-building challenges such as designing, building, and testing their own rockets, participating in simulated astronaut training, shuttle missions and a moon walk, and conducting DNA extraction experiments on fruit.
Since its launch in 2010, Honeywell, in partnership with the USSRC, has awarded more than 1156 scholarships to students.
Scholarships are granted after a rigorous application and review processes based on academic achievement and community involvement.
Financial contributions from Honeywell Hometown Solutions and Honeywell employees help fund the scholarships, including tuition, meals, accommodations, and program materials.
For more information about HLCA, visit leadership.honeywell.com.
