BALTIMORE, MD – April 25, 2026 – Team Galaxy, a collaborative team of high school students from across Maryland, has been officially named a National Winner in the 2025–2026 NASA Dream With Us Design Challenge.
Official Certificate by NASA for Team Galaxy (Source: NASA Aeronautics)Announced by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate on March 23, Team Galaxy secured Third Place nationwide, becoming the first team in Maryland history to win the prestigious aerospace competition.Notably, Team Galaxy was the only team from the East Coast to place in the top tier, standing alongside First and Second Place winners Team SkySeekers and Team AeroForge, both from California.
The NASA Dream With Us Challenge tasked students across the country with designing innovative, autonomous drone systems to solve critical challenges in the agricultural industry. Team Galaxy, led by Team Captain Lucas Chen of Eastern Tech High School, developed the “TG-1” – an advanced, AI-powered Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) drone designed to combat the Soybean Pest Complex.
“What makes this victory so remarkable is not just the technology, but the collaboration,” said Frank Chen, Ph.D., Team Coach and Faculty at Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School. “They overcame geographical barriers, coordinating across four different Maryland high schools, to build a solution that could mean billions in annual savings for farmers nationwide.”
The cross-county team includes:
● Lucas Chen (Team Lead) – Eastern Tech High School (10th Grade)
● Samarth Gomatam, Andy Yan, and Skyler Zeng – Dulaney High School (10th Grade)
● Aric Deng – Damascus High School (9th Grade)
● Ruichen Feng – Thomas Wootton High School (9th Grade)
Competing for the first time, Team Galaxy distinguished themselves by consulting directly with agricultural extension agents, precision agriculture specialists, and engineering professors. Their winning submission featured a novel “Periscope” sensor design capable of penetrating closed crop canopies and an onboard AI system to detect hidden pests, reducing field sampling time by 80% and chemical usage by up to 60%.
Team at AASF: Aric Deng, Andy Yan, Lucas Chen, Samarth Gomatam, Ruichen Feng. (Source: TG)
Building on this momentum, Team Galaxy’s research on the TG-1 system was recently accepted for a poster presentation at the AASF AIX Summit: Build America’s AI Future, held in April 2026 in New York. Furthermore, the team was honored with a Travel Grant award for their poster, underscoring the academic and technical merit of their work in the field of agricultural artificial intelligence.
For Team Galaxy, excellence is meant to be shared. With a national title in hand and their research gaining professional traction, they are now looking toward the horizon – not just for their own careers, but for the future of STEM in Maryland. The team is currently designing a new “Innovation Program” aimed at sharing their engineering blueprint with other schools. By advocating for hands-on AI and aerospace education, they aren’t just solving agricultural problems; they are building a launchpad for the next generation of Maryland’s student-innovators.
2025-2026 Dream with Us Design Challenge Winners – High School Group (Source: NASA Aeronautics)
About NASA Dream with Us (DWU) The Dream with Us (DWU) Design Challenge asks students in grades 6-12 to dream of creative innovations for the future of aviation. They work to solve real-world issues that NASA Aeronautics is working on today to make aviation systems and technology safer, more sustainable, and more accessible to everyone. Students join this annual challenge for a chance to show NASA their visions for the future of flight. https://www.nasa.gov/dream-with-us/
Media Contact: Dr Frank Chen, fchen10@jh.edu
Editor: Sophie Xu
华府青年 CYOC 
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