L'ANSE, MI— A team of five girls from L’Anse has won second place in the “Michigan Girls Future Flight Challenge.”
The competition is hosted by the Women of Aerospace Industry Association of Michigan.
The students--Amelia Knapp, Juliet Knapp, Hannah Wilson, Addy Snyder and Genevieve Cadeau—had to use their creativity to design a sustainable, unique way of flight that solves a problem. They chose cleaning up Great Lakes beaches.
Their solution used a drone, powered by solar panels and equipped with a net and sensors, to find garbage on the beach and bring it to an incinerator. Ash from the incinerator could be used for road construction projects.
The group developed a prototype, a business plan, and marketing materials, then presented a slide deck to a group of judges from major aerospace corporations across the state.
Officials from L’Anse Manufacturing and Gulfstream mentored the girls throughout the three-week event.
