High Tech’s Hamza Qureshi Earns Second Place in Third Annual National High School Architecture Competition

(Chicago, IL—June 13, 2014) The Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) announced High Tech’s Hamza Qureshi, a resident of Jersey City, the winner of the second prize in its DiscoverDesign.org National High School Architecture Competition, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech High School.

Qureshi, sponsored by his teacher, Gregory Simon, joined 219 teens from 28 high schools in 12 states who submitted design projects to redesign their school athletic pavilion to promote healthy lifestyles. A jury team of 35 architects, engineers, and designers from across the country, including the Director of Design at HOK, Vice President at Thornton Tomasetti, an architect with Incite Design Studio, and the founder of Black Spectacles, judged the final 10 projects, one of which had been drafted by Qureshi.

As the second prize winner, Qureshi receives a $250 CAF Shop gift certificate, a year-long membership for design software tutorials from BlackSpectacles.com (valued at $280), and a copy of CAF's text, The Architecture Handbook.

A nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public interest and education in architecture, CAF launched DiscoverDesign.org, a web-based tool that provides high school students with a chance to solve real-world design problems, in January 2012. Through project-based learning and social networking, students connect with professional architects and engineers, allowing for professional feedback during each step of their design process.

Jacob Vega of A. Harry Moore High School Completes Business Computers Application Program at High Tech

(North Bergen, NJ—June 6, 2014) Jersey City resident Jacob Vega, a shared-time student from A. Harry Moore High School, has successfully completed the two-year business computer applications program at High Tech, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech.

Not only has High Tech honored Jacob's hard work, but so has Berkeley College in Clifton, which has presented Jacob with the Perseverance Award in recognition of his outstanding perseverance in high school business education.

High Tech Science Instructor Catherine Yuhas Accepted into Two National Science Foundation Workshops

(North Bergen, NJ—June 4, 2014) Catherine Yuhas, the science facilitator at High Tech High’s Academy of Architecture and Contemporary Themes (AACT), has been accepted into a pair of National Science Foundation workshops, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech.

Yuhas, who teaches Biology, Earth & Space Science, and AP Environmental Science for the Science and Technology Major at High Tech, will attend Stevens Institute of Technology’s Biology and Engineering Infusion Project, a two-year course focused on the development of the engineering design process in the biology curriculum. In addition, she will take part in the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Coastal Marine Sciences workshop, which centers on hands-on, coastal marine educational materials that may be incorporated into the curriculum as well this summer.

Yuhas graduated from Fairfield University, obtaining a degree in Biology, and she then earned a Master of Science in Environmental Science from NJIT/Rutgers University--Newark, where she conducted research on the Meadowlands salt marshes. Staying current in the environmental field, she attends lectures, seminars, and monitors the horseshoe crab population along the Raritan Bay.