Honeywell announced that 10 Indian students among 172 students from 25 countries attended a learning experience at the 11th Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy (HLCA). The unique leadership program took place for two consecutive weeks at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This year, Honeywell chose eight students from Bangalore and two students from Pune.
The HLCA is a scholarship program for children of Honeywell employees worldwide that offers a weeklong immersive, science-oriented leadership experience. It is designed to encourage high school students ages 16-18 years old to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through real-world, hands-on activities in computer science, engineering, astronautics and coding.
“For more than 10 years, Honeywell has brought together students from around the world to travel to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center to experience Space Camp, helping to build their technical, collaborative and communications skills,” said Jayme Meyer, Honeywell vice president, Internal Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility. “Today, the 30 fastest-growing occupations globally are in STEM, and Honeywell is proud to partner with the USSRC to empower the next generation of future-shaping innovators and leaders.”
Students are selected for the program through a rigorous application and review process based on academic achievement and community involvement. Honeywell and its employees help fund the scholarships, which cover the cost of tuition, meals, accommodations and program materials.
Yatharth Nehra, a participant from Pune said, “It was a great learning and networking experience. I believe there are only very few organizations that provide the advantage and the diverse knowledge as HLCA provides. Honeywell understands that the future is now, and the future is us. I would like to thank Honeywell for providing me with this opportunity.”
“Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy at US Space and Rocket Center was once in a lifetime experience for me. It was a rare combination of technical knowledge, hands-on experience, meeting legends and having loads of fun,” said Bidipta Chatterjee, a participant from Bengaluru.
Bengaluru student Nisha Jain reminisced, “It was a wonderful opportunity to build my leadership qualities, challenge myself across different fields and also meet and learn from my peers from different cultures. We learned how to work as a team with mission control & incident control challenge, build a rocket, code a raspberry pi, train on MATs, use a flight simulator, experience 1/6 gravity, and climbed a 40-foot wall! Proud to have been selected for HLCA!”
Since its launch in 2010, Honeywell, in partnership with the USSRC, has sponsored nearly 3,000 students to attend space camps. Participants develop STEM leadership skills through numerous team-building challenges such as building, coding and testing rockets; simulated astronaut training; shuttle missions; and a low-gravity moonwalk. Students also use computational thinking and computer science to deepen their digital skills.
“Space camp was one of the most exhilarating and educative experiences for me with the exposure to space programs, leadership, critical thinking and teamwork.” shared Srinidhi Prabhakaran, a Bengaluru participant.