Skydweller is working to teach students about the nuts and bolts of aerodynamics as well as designing planes. This is a multi-day event where 20 high school students learn the basics of engineering.
The Hancock County Chamber of Commerce awarded Skydweller with a small business grant that the company is using to encourage students to pursue STEM careers through this program.
Xander McGarrity is a recent graduate of Hancock High School. He found himself amid another learning journey at Skydweller’s Aerospace Engineering Experience on Wednesday.
“It’s always good to learn something new,” McGarrity said.
McGarrity said he signed up for Skydweller’s brand-new summer program to enhance his learning skills. He says he didn’t expect to develop a strong interest in the solar-powered Skydweller aircraft.
“It’s a plane that can completely control itself,” he said. “It can fly for a couple of days straight, I believe. And that’s super fascinating stuff.”
McGarrity said that other high schoolers learned the basics of engineering at the Pearl River Community College. They built wooden gliders to learn about flying capability.
The Hancock County Chamber of Commerce awarded Skydweller a Small Business grant that the company is using to encourage students to pursue STEM careers through this program.
Skydweller’s operations director David Tyler says this is an awesome way to build the workforce on the coast.
“This is how we develop our workforce,” Tyler said. “I can only do that by having innovative engineers in the future, and these are the types of people who are going to be my innovative engineers in five-, six- or seven-years’ time.”
“It gives them a base of knowledge of how to construct these things,” said Pearl River Community College Vice President Raymunda Barnes. “They also get a chance to see how this basic concept can plant a seed for bigger things. So, being able to plant that seed is something that we strive to do.”