OREANDA-NEWS. August 11, 2016. Twelve local high school students showcased a variety of engineering accomplishments and two others received scholarships during the annual Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) High School Involvement Partnership (HIP) Project Expo June 14.

Photos accompanying this release are available at: http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/mediagallery.html?pkgid=41064

The HIP Project Expo is the culmination of a yearlong program that pairs high school students with engineering mentors at Northrop Grumman. Now in its ninth year at Northrop Grumman's Rolling Meadows campus, the HIP program is a developmental initiative geared toward increasing high school students' interest in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

"Every one of our engineers can tell you about an individual who inspired them to follow their passion," said Jeff Palombo, vice president and general manager, land and avionics C4ISR division, Northrop Grumman. "Fostering STEM development in our community is critical to the future of our industry, and because of programs like HIP, we're able to help develop the next wave of technical greats."

The program's first-year students built rolling robots capable of navigating an obstacle course while returning participants took on projects of their own choosing and worked closely with their mentors to bring them to life.

Second-year students created engineering projects of their own, incorporating various disciplines of engineering such as electrical, software, mechanical and hardware. Projects included a mobile application for iOS devices, a mock electric piano synthesizer, a quad copter, a V-TEK 3D laser scanner, a range finder that reads values of distance and projects onto a screen, a study-tool app for Android devices, a gimbal to track a red object in real time, and a 3D-printed robot controlled with Kinect software.

Also during the event, Northrop Grumman recognized Joshua Gustafson (Rolling Meadows High School) and Caleb Vail (William Fremd High School) as recipients of scholarships through the Engineering Scholars program. Both students received the merit-based scholarship for their excellent academic achievements and community involvement. The \\$10,000 scholarships are payable in \\$2,500 annual installments over four years.

Gustafson was a member of the Marching Band, Concert Band, 30+ ACT Club, National Honor Society and National Technology Honor Society. He has participated in several STEM programs in high school such as the FIRST Robotics Competition and Project Lead the Way. He is active in Boy Scouts, reaching Brotherhood in Honor in Scouting's Order of the Arrow and achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. These experiences helped him decide to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Vail is an AP Scholar with Distinction, scored a perfect 800 on his physics SAT and earned a 3.97 GPA. He was a football and track and field captain, leading his teammates in performing community service for military personnel and single mothers in need. He is a volunteer math and physics tutor and has served the homeless in Chicago with his church high school. He will be attending the University of Chicago as a University Scholar with plans to study physics and mathematics.

The Northrop Grumman Engineering Scholars program is aimed at supporting promising high school seniors who intend to pursue a career in an engineering-related field. Candidates must plan to attend an accredited college or university school of engineering as a full-time student in an approved engineering program. The funds can be used for tuition, books, room and board, and lab fees.

A committee of Northrop Grumman employees selected the Engineering Scholars winners. To be eligible, each scholarship applicant had to be a resident of Rolling Meadows, Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Mount Prospect or Palatine, and be a graduating senior this spring from a public or accredited private high school in the state. Applicants also had to have a minimum composite SAT score of 1,700 or ACT score of 27 and a minimum GPA of 3.5. The committee also took into consideration work experience, community involvement and extracurricular activities. For more information on the Engineering Scholars program, please visit: http://www.northropgrumman.com/CorporateResponsibility/Community/Pages/engineeringscholars.aspx

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.