Five students traveled to Fort Worth at the campus of Lockheed Martin to compete in the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME) state competition April 11-12.

The students first took their math and science tests, followed by a team design activity where students worked in a teams to create a prototype design.

The following students represented McNeil at state: Natalie Malluru (9), third place in Algebra 2 and 5th place in Biology; Marwa Gujarathi (10), fourth place in Statistics; Sam Mokhtar (11), first place in Calculus and first place in AP Physics; and Ethan Freeburg (11) fourth place in Calculus and second place in AP Chemistry.

These students were invited to state based on the high scores in their respective math and science categories in the area competition.

TAME provides students with an opportunity to explore careers in science, technology, engineering and math. “Winning at the state level for the first time was shocking at first, yet so self-rewarding,” Malluru said. “All the preparation was worth it.”