Danbury’s Immaculate High STEM Team Earns National Second-Place Finish

DANBURY, CT — A student engineering team from Immaculate High School earned second place nationally in the Real World Design Challenge (RWDC), following a seventh consecutive win at the state level.

The team, known as the “Brave Engineers,” developed an unmanned aircraft concept designed to assist ground crews in safely delivering supplies to wildfire zones. Their design, the D-25 Pyro-carrier, is a semi-autonomous, locally remote-controlled helicopter that exceeded several technical criteria set by the competition.

The RWDC is an annual nationwide contest that offers high school students the opportunity to tackle real-world engineering problems using professional tools and industry-level resources. This year’s challenge required teams to devise a system for wildfire response operations that could transport cargo efficiently and safely.

Immaculate’s winning team included Michael Jimenez of Danbury; Siwei Han of Newtown; Robert Pattison of Bethel; Richard Matte of Ridgefield; Ryan Martin of Oxford; Tianyi Dong of Patterson, N.Y.; and Allison Danial of Brewster, N.Y. Jeanine Antonios, the school’s Career and Technology Department chairperson, coached the team.

“I am incredibly proud of our Brave Engineers for their commitment and hard work,” Antonios said. “They applied what they’ve learned in STEM classes to a real-world problem and enjoyed the process.” She also credited industry mentor Ruthanne Szumski of Pratt & Whitney for her support.

Immaculate Head of School Wendy Neil said the competition reflects the school’s dedication to preparing students for meaningful contributions in science and engineering fields.