Honeywell competition fuels kids' appetite for space

Valley students descended upon ASU West this week to compete in the 10th Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge for a chance to win an appearance at the 38th annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and a trip to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Fifth- through eighth-graders brought in their best and most creative models of a new-generation International Space Station.

The models feature solar panels, recreation rooms with basketball courts and hydroponic chambers for growing food.

About 800 students from 45 schools across Arizona presented their projects in the two-day event. The top three teams from Monday and Tuesday will advance to the finals at the Challenger Space Center in Peoria to present their projects to NASA astronauts and Honeywell engineers on Jan. 2.

Chad Cundiff, vice president of crew interface products for Honeywell Aerospace, kicked off the event and was one of 40 Honeywell judges visiting with students to discuss their models.

Cundiff said teams were judged on such criteria as how their station would deal with space's lack of gravity, how it would process waste and how it could be used to fix a satellite in orbit.

"This competition is a way to engage their curiosity in space," Cundiff said. "There are no wrong answers, but we are looking for creativity and if it makes sense."

Jordan Elementary School fifth-grade students Zeke Acton, Keenan Baird, Josh Domrzalski, and Tarik Bensalem brought their Solar Satellite Retriever and said they were excited by the competition.

"It's pretty nice," Keenan said. "It lets kids express their love for space and science."

Dave DeGrose, a Honeywell employee and judge, said he was surprised at some of the ideas the students came up with.

"It's surprising to see what students have here, because some of their ideas are some of the things we have at Honeywell," he said. "They've done the real calculations and research."

The Phoenix Excelencia Elementary S.S. Eagle Team of (from left) Fernando Frias, Francisco Rayado and Jesus Holguin talk about their space station at the Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge. Hundreds of students participated in the event.