WINNERS 2016

Mr. Dev Bhatia
Cerritos High School

Currently a junior at Cerritos High School, Mr. Dev Bhatia enjoys exercising his passion in engineering through application. He has scored an 8 out of 9 on the National PLTW (Project Lead the Way) Principles of Engineering Examination, and has won the Premios de Oro medallion in Biology and Engineering Design at his school. Most recently, Mr. Bhatia led a team in the International Gemini Mars Competition hosted by The Mars Society and was also awarded the Earthwatch Institute research fellowship for summer 2016. In addition, Mr. Bhatia founded the ERA (Educational Resources for All) Initiative, which aims to provide stationary supplies to underprivileged children. In his spare time, Mr. Bhatia writes poetry and currently has 4 poems published by Creative Communications. At school, Mr. Bhatia is a Junior Representative of the National Honor Society and Vice President of the Robotics Club. He aspires to pursue a degree in engineering and apply it for the  advancement of mankind.

Mr. David Elias Rodriguez

Cerritos High School

Mr. Rodriguez is currently a junior at Cerritos High School, and has participated in several robotics competitions, including the Doolittle Institute’s Mini Urban Challenge and the NTMA Training Centers Robotics League. He has served as the lead driver in the NTMA competition, and the team he supervised under 2016 Mini Urban Challenge, in terms of design and development received the award for “Best in Show.”  Mr. Rodriguez is currently the President of the Cerritos High School Robotics Club, and will serve in this capacity during 2016-2017. He is currently in the third year of the four year PLTW (Project Lead the Way) engineering course pathway. During his first year in the PLTW program, he became the recipient of the Premio de Oro award for PLTW Intro to Engineering Design course.

Mr. J. Philip Barnes

Pelican Aero Group

Mr. J. Philip Barnes has a Master of Science Degree in Aero Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona and BSME from the University of Arizona. He is a 35-year veteran of air vehicle, propulsion, and subsystems performance analysis at Northrop Grumman. Mr. Barnes’ study and technical paper on the dynamic soaring technique of the wandering albatross was deemed “landmark,” and he is pioneering the science of regenerative electric flight. He is the author of numerous SAE, AIAA, AGMA, and other technical papers, and often invited to lecture at universities.
In addition, Mr. Barnes has also authored his own website, www.HowFliesTheAlbatross.com, the charter of which is to apply “green aero engineering” to help prevent or delay the extinction of the wandering albatross. Mr. Barnes was named 2014 Outstanding Aero Alum at Cal Poly Pomona, where he presented “Future Flight: Learning from the Birds” to an audience of 200 graduates, family, and faculty. Most recently, Mr. Barnes received the Gohardani Aerospace Presentation Award for “Principles of High-efficiency Electric Flight.”

WINNERS 2015

Ms. Eleni Fafoutis

Santa Margarita Catholic High School

Currently a sophomore at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, Ms. Fafoutis has participated in several STEM related competitions, including TARC (Team America Rocketry Challenge). She has twice been honored as a National Finalist; In Student Payload and Rocketry Challenge (SPARC) 2014 placing first as an overall project award winner, and the Orange County and California state Science Fairs, placing 2nd in Senior Division Physics/Astronomy at the county level, with additional wins of four special awards.

Ms. Fafoutis has also co-founded the All Girls STEM Society, which encourages girls to pursue their passions in STEM. Her volunteer experience include tutoring for Santa Ana Math Club, Intern at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, and participation in Operation Christmas Child. She has also served as the co-director of the inaugural All-Girls Math Tournament in San Diego, California.

Mr. Austin Williams

Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems Inc.

Mr. Williams has 9 years experience working with Nano-Satellites, beginning with the successful launch of Cal Poly’s CP6 CubeSat.  With the experience gained from that launch and operations, he led the complete re-design of Cal Poly’s patented avionics system with the support of fellow student colleagues and faculty.  The technology developed is used in numerous Cal Poly, commercial, and government CubeSats. Mr. Williams subsequently co-founded Tyvak Nano-Satellites Systems Inc in 2011 with the goal of providing state of the art nano-satellite solutions.  Tyvak has grown from four co-founders, to over thirty-five full-time employees, with Mr. Williams currently the VP of Space Vehicles responsible for over-sight of all satellite development activities. Mr. Williams holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and M.S. in Electrical Engineering, both from California Polytechnic State University, San

Luis Obispo California.