CRANE, Ind. -- Crane Army Ammunition Activity joined the Navy in hosting nearly 75 junior high and high school students from across Southern Indiana at the 30th annual Team Crane Science and Engineering Fair April 23 at the WestGate Academy.
The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program of Crane Army and Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, teamed up to provide a venue that would foster innovative thinking and interest students in careers that are STEM related. The students competed for a variety of cash prizes and awards in event categories such as consumer science, behavioral science, biology, chemistry, inventions, medicine and physics.
The funding Crane Army used to support not only the science fair, but all of its STEM projects, comes from the National Defense Education Program. Benefitting an estimated 30,000 students over the past three years, Crane Army's STEM program has allowed schools and other youth-oriented groups a chance to reach more children through materials and events.
Crane Army Resource Management Director and STEM Program Manager Deborah DeLaney said, "We believe that the utilization of National Defense Educational Program funds provided to Crane Army Ammunition Activity over the past three years has allowed opportunities to students both in and outside the classroom that otherwise would not have been available. This overall reaching effort will provide additional opportunities to our young people and provide an educated workforce for our surrounding counties and the state of Indiana."
In addition to Crane Army and NSWC, the American Society of Naval Engineers, Southern Indiana, Association of Old Crows, Blacks in Government, Federally Employed Women organization, Hoosier Hills, American Society for Quality and Toastmasters provided judges and prizes. Awards were also provided by the Battery Innovation Center, Crane Federal Credit Union, Donald and Mariette House, FLIR, WestGate Authority, Stimulus Engineering, CEOT, and McKean.
The students also had an opportunity to see learning centers and displays set up by Crane Army, NSWC, Battery Innovation Center, First Robotics Teams from Bloomington and Jasper, FLIR, Ivy Tech, Vincennes University and WonderLab.
Kicking off the event, Assistant Secretary of the Navy Dennis McGinn said to the students that he has had the honor over his career to meet Nobel Laureates and they don't have a-ha moments, but rather notice something off and keep investigating it because of their curiosity.
"So I would encourage you future Noble Laureates, and if you do not aspire to be a Noble Laureate how about you simply aspire to be a wonderfully productive American citizen pursuing the Science, Technology Engineering and Math that is so essential for us to continue to be a leader throughout the world in pursuing solutions to all the challenges we are facing," McGinn said. "News is full of bad news that we look at as future scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians as not being problems but challenges."
Established Oct. 1977, Crane Army Ammunition Activity maintains ordnance professionals and infrastructure in order to receive, store, ship, produce, renovate and demilitarize conventional ammunition, missiles and related components. Crane Army maintains up to one third of the DoD's conventional ammunition inventory. The Activity also provides command oversight of Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Iowa; Letterkenny Munitions Center, Pa.; and Milan Army Ammunition Plant, Tenn.
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