MIDDLETOWN, NJ — A high school student from Middletown did well at a science competition held March 7 at Toms River East High School.
Dolan Dunnigan is in the eleventh grade at Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST), the vo-tech school on Sandy Hook. He and three of his MAST classmates competed in the East Coast Space Settlement Design Competition.
The students were given a fictional task they had to use real-life science to solve: Figure out how to mine raw materials on Venus and transport them a settlement in space.
The proposal created by Dunnigan’s team was chosen as the winner by the judges. His team was made up of: MAST sophomore Daniel Chiu of Edison and MAST juniors Noah Eckert of Aberdeen and Jason Samuel of Freehold.
Chiu won the day’s top prize, receiving the the competition’s Paul Stenzel STEM Pioneer Award, recognizing exceptional design ingenuity and innovation.
“This experience pushes students to imagine ambitious futures while also considering responsible and human-centered design,” said MAST technology studies teacher Wendy Green. “The skills they practice — collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and resilience — extend far beyond the competition.”
The East Coast Space Settlement Design Competition is modeled after real aerospace industry proposal processes and is affiliated with the internationally recognized International Space Settlement Design Competition.
According to U.S. News & World Report, MAST ranks among the best high schools in New Jersey and the nation. MAST ranks 3rd in Monmouth County and 11th in New Jersey.