What will the helicopters look like four decades into the future?

Sikorsky Aircraft, which has an aircraft completion center in Coatesville, is giving children ages 9 to 16 the chance to look to the future and compete for a $1,000 scholarship through the Sikorsky Helicopter 2050 Program and Challenge.

The national program will run through Sept. 30. Contestants will have to think about the potential challenges of 2050 and plan how their design would overcome those challenges.

The competition is part of Sikorsky’s commitment to encouraging hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for students throughout the country and gives the corporation an opportunity to develop long-term relationships with tomorrow’s engineers.

“I’m thrilled to see the growing popularity of the program with children and adults alike,” said Judy Bankowski, vice president and chief information officer at Sikorsky. “Every year, we see more teachers using the Challenge for their after-school clubs, as part of their STEM programs, for class assignments and more. The kids love it and, clearly, parents and teachers are seeing the same value of the program on children’s education that we do.”

The winner of the 2014 competition will receive the Igor Sikorsky Youth Innovator Award, the scholarship, and be flown to Sikorsky’s Stratford, Ct. headquarters. Igor Sikorsky is company founder. They will tour the assembly line of the iconic BLACK HAWK AND SEAHAWK® military helicopters and meet Sikorsky rotorcraft engineers.

Teachers and museum staff may sign up to help students with the competition here:

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Top image courtesy of www.aviationtoday.com.