May 31, 2019
Many women modestly denigrate their own accomplishments. Some even say that we are called to be humble. That said, Lauralton believes that as long as we give credit for our God-given talents and abilities, we should proudly celebrate our accomplishments. We are #LH Proud.
Lauralton has many signature programs, those that are unique to our School. One of those is Lauralton Hall's engineering team "The Wright Sisters" and its annual successful participation in the Sikorsky STEM Challenge. Now in its eighth year, Sikorsky's STEM Challenge provides high school students the opportunity to partner with an engineering mentor from Sikorsky and solve an engineering design challenge by applying the lessons of the classroom to real-world technical problems. The team must develop project plans, present to Sikorsky engineers, and meet objectives throughout the year by submitting reports and videos.
The Wright Sisters are advised by Lauralton faculty Theresa Napolitano (23 years of LH service in our science department) and Danielle Kratter (five years of LH service in our math department). As Napolitano has said, the Wright Sisters "succeeded because they embraced creative thinking, project management, collaboration, and leadership — all skills they will bring with them into the 21st century workplace." We appreciate the mentorship of Sikorsky engineer Ashley Currivan '10, our assigned Sikorsky mentor. Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, is a leading American aircraft manufacturer founded in 1923. We are especially proud to participate in a program sponsored by a company whose Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Marillyn A. Hewson is among the growing number of female CEOs across the defense industry.
Today, any enrolled Lauralton student is invited to be part of the team. There is no necessary background as "we are all learning together." As Rachelle Ambroise '17 said, "Even though we all had different levels of knowledge in different areas, we were still able.. . to put together something wonderful." The team travels each October to Chester Airport for preliminary presentations and then in April to Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in Stratford to present the final challenge design. Our students make connections and have landed engineering internships in college because of their work on the Sikorsky competition.
This year the presentation round occurred on the afternoon of Lauralton's prom. As Head of School Elizabeth Miller quipped, "Only a Lauralton girl can go earn the highest score in a prestigious engineering competition and then transform to elegantly appear at the prom a few hours later!" Today the top three Sikorsky Challenge teams competed at the program's final event at Connecticut Expo Fest where Lauralton earned first place!
The 2018-2019 challenge was to design the cockpit control layout for a helicopter flight deck. This design will provide alternate controls for the existing collective stick, cyclic stick, anti-torque pedals, and throttle with a new control layout, taking into consideration human factors and the pilot's ease of use. An Arduino was programmed with sensors to model the final control design to show how the control layout can fly a virtual helicopter.
Congratulations to 2018-2019 team members Jessica Abbazia '19, Katie Backus '21, Lanie Barnett '20, Caroline Begg '22, Cali Carrignan '19, Leah Cogguillo '19, Katherine Connolly '19, Elle Corcoran '21, Anna Farruggio '21, Isabella Fonseca '21, Babette Gilles '21, Kiera Henry '22, Peggy Hutchinson '19, Nikki Karagiannis '22, Grace Kelly '21, Rachel Lacobelle '20, Chelesa Larke '22, Shelly Liang '19, Hannah Liao '19, Molly McAndrew '21, Mauve McClure '21, Katie McLaughlin '21, Caleigh Peloso '21, Jade Petalcorin '21, Sarah Rescsanski '22, Isabella Seccharoli '19, Shreya Simhadri '20, Lily Stockwell '22, Raaga Subramanian '20, Victoria Vizza '22, Catherine White '21, Rory Woods '19, and Anna Yang '19.
In May 2018 we shared the news that the LH team earned the highest score among eight high schools participating in the Sikorsky STEM Challenge involving aircraft stability. In addition, the team placed second at the annual Connecticut Expo Fest. This was the second consecutive year Lauralton was the only all-girls school chosen to participate. Its challenge was to implement a Stability Augmentation System (SAS) for the Corsair aircraft. The Lauralton "Wright Sisters" researched SAS requirements and studied ways that data from sensors fed into a written computer program triggers controls to correct pitch and roll. "Ultimately the team demonstrated a solution that improved stability and reduced pilot workload—all while meeting FAA safety requirements," said Napolitano. Team members included Kailyn Ball '18, Caroline Favano '18, Ann Frances Fox '18, Kristin Franco '18, Juliana Gonzalez '18, Grace Jensen '18, Grace Murray '18, Julia Petalcorin '18, Apolline Vincent '18, Calista Carrignan '19, Leah Cogguillo '19, Margaret Hutchinson '19, Rory Woods '19, Elizabeth Corcoran '21, Grace Kelly '21, Katherine McLaughlin '21, Jade Petalcorin '21, Ruth Wang '21 and Catherine White '21.
In May 2017 the 18 member LH team soared to the top and won the annual competition among the eight Connecticut high schools invited to participate. That year the challenge was to design a repair connection for a broken aileron linkage on an F4U4-Corsair plane. Lauralton's winning submission was a fly-by-wire electro mechanical control systems for the Corsair's Aileron. Team members included Rachelle Ambroise '17, Leila Casaccio '17, Jillian Cass '17, Olivia D'Andrea '17, Alison Haynes '17, Madelyn Monahan '17, Michaela O'Donnell '17, Yashaswini Soleti '17, Kailyn Ball '18, Ann Frances Fox '18, Kristin Franco '18, Juliana Gonzalez '18, Grace Jensen '18, Grace Murray '18, Julia Arsenault '19, Leah Cogguillo '19, Isabella Secchiaroli '19, and Rory Woods '19. Their win was announced in July 2017.
In June 2017 and June 2018 the team has dazzled the Lauralton Board of Trustees when they presented to the full board. "The Board was highly impressed by both the professionalism of the presentations as well as the incredible depth of subject matter expertise exhibited by both teams," said Chair of the Board of Trustees Patrick McNeela P '13. "It made us all proud to be a part of this incredible institution that consistently trains and develops students of this caliber."
We credit the six "Hidden Figures" from the Class of 2013 who drove the establishment of an engineering club at Lauralton when they were students: Deirdre Eason, Shea Dolan, Jessica Napolitano, Kelly Russo, Nicole Sweeney, and Emilia Tanu. Not surprisingly, Deirdre, Jessica, Emilia, and Nicole have become professional engineers while Kelly and Shea have pursued careers in medicine. Initially this group was called the Engineering Experience Club. It is the foundation of today's highly competitive and lauded Engineering Team "The Wright Sisters." This is what we call Empowering Women for Life.
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