In Texas, Junior Engineering Technical Society Launches Flagship High School Engineering Competition for 2008-2009

TEAMS Provides Unique Educational Experience for Texas High School Students

Offers Sponsorship Opportunities to Texas STEM Companies

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the theme, "Behind the Scenes: Theme Parks," the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) has launched its TEAMS competition for the 30th school year to high school students throughoutTexas and around the country.

Once again this year, the one-day TEAMS competition will provide students in grades nine through 12 with the opportunity to make real-world connections between math and science to engineering by solving actual engineering scenarios. This year, students will discover the engineering involved in designing, building and running America's theme parks.

InTexas, the University of Houston and University of Texas campuses inDallas,Austin andBrownsville will host TEAMS competitions during the 2008-2009 season.

In addition,Texas-based science, technology, engineering and mathematics or STEM companies have the opportunity to get involved by sponsoring local groups of between four and eight students for the TEAMS competition.

"For companies that recognize their social responsibility, understand the country's urgent need to develop more STEM graduates, are interested in giving back and making an investment in developing the next generation of engineers, this is an easy, effective way for them to show their support," said Peter Carrato, Bechtel Corporation Fellow and President of the Board of Directors of JETS. "For 50 years, TEAMS has been inspiring a new crop of budding engineers and showing them how much fun, how engaging and how valuable the engineering professions are."

More than 14,000 students participate in TEAMS each year. TEAMS competitions will take place nationally over a six-week period around National Engineers Week. From February 2 through March 15, 2009, competitions will be hosted at more than 70 colleges and universities nationwide. The competitions inTexas will be held as follows:

- University of Houston - February 13, 2009

- University of Texas, Brownsville - March 6, 2009

- University of Texas, Austin - To be determined

- University of Texas, Dallas - To be determined

The highest ranking team in the country will take top honors as the "Best Overall" and will be announced in early April 2009. They will receive $5,000 for their school. In addition, the Walt Disney World Resort will award the team a three-night stay at Walt Disney World, including Park Hopper Tickets, and the opportunity to take part in one Disney Youth Education Series program of their choice.

Like the other signature JETS programs, the purpose of TEAMS is to encourage more American students to pursue engineering by showing them just how engineering impacts everyday life and how engineers help solve social and community problems - from building roads and bridges, to developing water purification systems for developing countries, to inventing alternative sources of energy to fuel our cars and keep our homes warm and cool.

About JETS

JETS is the leading non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting engineering and technology careers to America's youth. From coordinating exciting student competitions to providing top academic resources and career exploration materials, JETS is helping students make informed decisions about their futures and developing a new generation of engineers.

Each year, JETS programs touch more than 40,000 students and 10,000 educators from 6,000 high schools across the country. JETS participants are a diverse group - more than 50 percent are from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in engineering and technology fields, including one-third who are female.

For more information, please visit, http://www.JETS.org.

SOURCE Junior Engineering Technical Society

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