This upcoming Saturday, September 15, at 3:15PM the winning teams of the competition organized by the International Commission for Science and Technology of the Presidency (CIACT), "My Trip to NASA", will be on their way to NASA.

A total of 6 students and 2 teachers will live the unforgettable experience to be part of a 6- day program at the NASA Space Camp located in Huntsville, Alabama. In this program they will have the opportunity to prepare the same way astronauts do before a trip to space. With the help of simulators, astronaut suits, gravity chambers and flight simulators among other things, these talented teenagers will enjoy this motivating experience and learn the basic procedures required for a mission to space. At the end they will be evaluated and rewarded with a certificate of participation.

According to Maria Victoria Perdomo, Director of Public Relations of the project "My Trip to NASA 2007": "This event is unique because of the presence of high school students from all over the country and also Dominican students from NYC schools. The event was a success thanks to the support and motivation of schools and faculty. During the first phase of the competition we had 65 teams presenting different projects in science and technology created by the students with the optional help of a teacher guide. This increases our mission to hold a 2008 edition".

José Santana, Executive Director of the CIACT, expressed that "the future economic growth of the Dominican Republic will be determined by the ability and creativity with which our nation uses our intellectual resources with the goal of expanding existing industries and developing new ones. Our organization will continue with the mission of developing initiatives that elevate the spirit of scientific investigation and implementing methods of technological study with the possibility of applying them in our country".

The winning teams were: the Loyola Polytechnic Institute of San Cristóbal, who presented a project about vitamin C, and the Quisqueya School with the Biodiesel project. For the NYC schools, the winner was The Mott Hall School, and their students presented an investigation about the evolution of the mollusk Family Olividae, a member of the Neogene family which is very abundant in the coasts of Dominican Republic.

Published in El Nuevo Diario
http://www.elnuevodiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=71404