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On Friday, May 3rd, we welcomed 114 high school students to our Siegfried Drone & Aviation Showcase. Set within the vast expanse of an airplane hangar at Tulsa Community College Riverside Community Campus and Aviation Center, this event let students immerse themselves in hands-on activities and career pathways in drones and aviation. Notably, Oklahoma boasts one of the world’s largest concentrations of aviation workers, contributing significantly to the state’s economy with over $44 billion in annual economic activity generated by this dynamic field.

The Showcase featured three main components:

• • Aviation Playground— A space for students to explore and gain hands-on experience with a variety of drones, aviation models, and drone-related skills.
  • Networking Hangar—A space for drone competitions, universities, and industry professionals to share info about opportunities in the drones and aviation fields.
  • Drone Competition—  A “TED-talk”-style competition where teams present a research project on how drones currently or will someday contribute to a certain industry.

The students who competed conducted research and presented a project answering the question of how have drones contributed or how do they anticipate drones will continue to contribute to innovation within an industry of their choice. Winners received their very own drones to take home and their teachers received an award for classroom materials from Pitsco.

Thank you to everyone who attended this year’s Showcase and those who helped make it possible! A special thank you to our Gold sponsor, Google, and Silver sponsor, George Kaiser Family Foundation & Tulsa Innovation Labs.

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Congratulations to this year’s winners!

The Google Innovation Award

Angelique Rivera from Dove Science Academy OKC for her project “How Have Drones Contributed to Agriculture?” 

The George Kaiser Family Foundation and Tulsa Innovation Labs Rising Star in Innovation Award

Vicky and Sorren from Keifer High School for their project “Droning in a Nutshell.”

1st Place Winner

Angelique Rivera from Dove Science Academy OKC for her project “How Have Drones Contributed to Agriculture?” Her teacher received $750 in classroom materials from Pitsco. 

2nd Place Winners

Ashwyn Premkumar and Rayan Elmhami from Dovc Science Academy OKC for their project “The Impact of Drones on Search and Rescue Operations.” Their teacher received $500 in classroom materials from Pitsco.

3rd Place Winners

Brithany Velez and Claudio Ruiz from Dove Science Academy OKC for their project “Drone Innovations in the Military Industry.” Their teacher received $250 in classroom materials from Pitsco.