Northrop Grumman has taken on the prime sponsorship of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) student competitions for 2012. The competitions give high school and college students worldwide the chance to design, develop and operate unmanned systems for sea, land and air.

The students receive a hands-on learning experience on how unmanned systems operate on their own so they can be used in environments where it may not be safe or easy for people.

"We're helping the next generation of engineers learn the value of unmanned systems and how they can be applied to research, defense and exploration," said Janis Pamiljans, general manager and vice president for unmanned systems with Northrop Grumman. "As a leader in autonomous unmanned systems, Northrop Grumman is proud to sponsor this year's AUVSI student competitions."

In April, Northrop Grumman was the lead sponsor for one of these competitions, the United Arab Emirates Innovation Challenge held in Abu Dhabi in association with the Higher Colleges of Technologies. The competition consisted of nine teams of students from six campuses who designed, built and demonstrated an unmanned aerial vehicle that could perform a specific activity on its own.

As part of the UAE Innovation Challenge, Northrop Grumman engineers provided instruction to the teams by encouraging students to work creatively and collaboratively throughout the process.

The AUVSI Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that was established to support AUVSI's educational initiatives, including student competitions. Please visit www.auvsi.org/foundation for more information.