On Wednesday Senator Paul Doyle (D-Wethersfield) and Senator John Fonfara (D-Hartford) welcomed members of Wethersfield High School’s “Wethersfield Design Team” to the floor of the State Senate. The team won first place for the second year running at the Network Engineering Design Challenge, a national engineering and design competition aimed at developing new ideas to help the disabled.
“Just like your design team there are 36 senators here in the chamber who have to work together to accomplish our common goal,” Sen. Doyle told the students. “Congratulations on all your hard work and winning first place for the second year in a row. Having been national finalists five out of the last six years speaks to the strength of the program and commitment from the community to the future success.”
“Success in engineering and design will take all of you far in your future careers, and it is also very important for the future success of our state’s economy,” said Senator Fonfara. “Our state is investing heavily in the training of new engineers at UConn and other education institutions, and we also working to create jobs for new engineers at United Technologies, Jackson Laboratories and other companies. It is very exciting to see such talent and potential in our Wethersfield High students.”
The Wethersfield Design Team has been a national finalist five out of the last six years and a semifinalist once. For the past two years the team worked with individuals employed by CW Resources, a non-profit company located in New Britain.
The team is coach by Joseph Kess, a physics teacher at Wethersfield High School, who was awarded “Coach of the Year” for his work with the Wethersfield Design Team.