BRENTWOOD—Brentwood Teen, Cyrus Dastur, was one of the lucky few from California chosen to attend the 2014 Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy (HLCA) at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) in Huntsville, Alabama. According to a press release from Honeywell, the program selected more than 300 students from 38 different countries.
The two-week program started on February 21 and concluded on March 7. Tom Buckmaster, Honeywell Hometown Solutions President explained in the release that the program sought to “develop a new generation of leaders, engineers, and scientists who can address the challenges of tomorrow.” The selected teens met “scientists, engineers and former astronauts who will reinforce core leadership competencies and share their first-hand professional experiences.”
The HLCA’s primary goals were not only to leadership and teach team-building skills to the attending students, but to encourage the STEM education which focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. In a recent interview with FOX Business Network’s MONEY with Melissa Francis, Honeywell Chairman and CEO, Dave Cote revealed at the Reinventing America Summit that of the 22,000 engineers Honeywell employs around the world, there is a serious lack of engineers in America. Cote remarked that America would be much better off if there was more productivity, “productivity tends to come from technology… technology comes from engineers.”
Cote’s fear was the science and engineering programs that America is funding are not being run efficiently enough to gain all the benefits.
CEO and Executive Director of the USSRC, Dr. Deborah Barnhart concluded in the 2014 HLCA at the USSRC release that “Honeywell’s investment in this innovative global youth leadership training reflects their enormous commitment to improving the quality of life in communities across the world. These youth leaders are the problem solvers of the future, at home, at work and in our continuing journey into space.”
