(JETS: Alexandria, VA) -- Tackling one of the world’s most pressing problems—the global water shortage—from an engineering perspective, students from The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, took the top national honor for the 11-/12-grade level, while those from the Harker School in San Jose, California, were named the national 9-/10-grade winners in the 31st annual national TEAMS competition sponsored by the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS).

The 2010 winners competed against more than 10,000 students in grades nine through 12 from 42 states across the United States.

TEAMS is a national engineering competition asking high school students to solve real-world challenges. While the 2010 competition theme, “Water, Water, Everywhere,” was selected last year, its relevance was highlighted earlier this year as the students watched earthquake victims in Haiti struggle to find clean water, a problem that affects nearly one billion people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

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