Setton Pistachio launches Drone Challenge contest
Setton Pistachio launches Drone Challenge contest
Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc. announced the recipients of its first annual Drone Challenge contest. This initiative was launched as part of Setton’s commitment to fostering advanced education for students and to encourage the development of future technology leaders and innovators.
Setton provided the drones, and each team was tasked with designing, developing, testing and deploying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for targeted operational missions. The school with the winning team received $5,000, and each student received $500. The second-place school received $2,500, and the third-place school received $1,000. Additionally, all the other students received a participation award of $250.
"Setton is proud to provide local high school students who excel in hands-on engineering a platform to innovate and collaborate,” said Setton Farms General Manager Lee Cohen. “This project supports our community outreach effort to foster the importance of integrating technology into local educational curriculum. It was exciting to launch this inaugural competition, and we were extremely impressed by the students’ exceptional projects."
Setton partnered with Harmony Magnet Academy (Academy of Aviation and Leadership), Porterville Military Academy (Academy of Engineering), Strathmore High School (Emerging Agriculture Technology Academy) and Granite Hills High School (Computer Operations Development in Education Academy), which created teams of students to participate in the challenge.
The 2025 recipients are: first place, Granite Hills High School (students: Christian Gutierrez, Carlos Lara, Shane Thornton, Teddy Santoyo, Ezikel Jimenez, and Rodrigo Millan); second place, Porterville Military Academy (Team 1, students: Connor Lanning, Ariyiah Brazell, Iyari Saucedo, Sawyer Stephens, Abraham Valdovinos, and Aidsa Landeros); and third place, Porterville Military Academy (Team 3, students: Andrew Lemus, Luke Mathis, Jesus Nunez, Marcello Magana, Wendy Tapia, and Bryan Miranda).
Projects were judged on the effectiveness of mission accomplishment, flight plan efficiency, power management, cargo and payload planning, workflow design, mission complexity and flight logs. The judging panel comprised Setton employees, school representatives and local leaders.
Setton Farms launched its College Educational Scholarship Program in 2016 and has awarded 159 scholarships to employees, local community members and students worth $199,750.
