Press Release:

Some 2,000 students participated in the showcase event for the 32nd annual youth engineering design program at The Tech Museum of Innovation centered on solving a real-world problem.

SAN JOSE, March 31, 2019 — Thousands of promising young engineers put their creativity and problem-solving prowess to the test at the showcase for The Tech Challenge: No Roads, No Problem, presented by Dell, March 30 and 31. This year, students designed and built hovercraft to navigate different terrains. Teams spent months perfecting their designs, documenting their process in journals and working together to build a solution.

“Every year a new generation of young innovators inspires us with their perseverance and ability to work together to overcome challenges. It’s impossible to walk away from The Tech Challenge and not feel hopeful about a future led by these bright young minds,” said Tim Ritchie, President and CEO of The Tech.

The Tech Challenge, a signature program of The Tech Museum of Innovation, invites teams of students in Grades 4–12 to use engineering design to solve a real-world problem. It reinforces 21st-century skills including creativity, problem-solving, design, teamwork, leadership,  perseverance and learning from failure. Students from as far away as Vancouver, Canada and Boulder, Colorado are participating.

“As a longtime supporter, Dell is proud to help The Tech Challenge succeed in its mission to inspire innovation and problem solving among all groups of young people,” said Nicolas Rodet, Vice President of Digital Marketing at Dell. “It’s always a delight to see the ingenuity and hard work that the future of Silicon Valley brings to the challenge.”

The Tech Challenge is designed to attract a diverse group of participants, and organizers strive to reach equal gender representation and to include low-income communities . Roughly 35% of teams come from Title I schools and 42% of participants are girls.

Click here for a list of all 2019 award winners.

To watch a recap of the showcase weekend, visit: youtu.be/c5Nc0dARAp4

The Tech Challenge would not be possible without the enduring support of hundreds of educators. This year’s Bob Grimm Award for an Extraordinary Educator was given to Rosemary Baez and Ashley Diaz of 3rd Street Community Center. The award is named after a long-time Tech Challenge champion. Grimm was a stalwart supporter of providing STEM education resources for all.

Key supporters for The Tech Challenge program  include presenting sponsor Dell with additional support from SAP, Arm, Bank of America, Ford Motor Company, Intel, PwC Charitable Foundation, Inc., Seagate, Thermo Fisher Scientific,  Accenture, Adobe, Cadence, eBay, EY, Genentech, Barbara and Bill Heil, Intuit, Konica Minolta, Lockheed Martin, Micron Technology, Samsung, and United Airlines.

For more information visit The Tech Challenge website.

About Dell Technologies

Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) is a unique family of businesses that helps organizations and individuals build their digital future and transform how they work and live. The company provides customers with the industry’s broadest and most innovative technology and services portfolio spanning from edge to core to cloud. The Dell Technologies family includes Dell, Dell EMC, Pivotal, RSA, Secureworks, Virtustream and VMware.

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