LA HABRA : Sonora High Senior Wins Essay Contest

A Sonora High School senior has won a $1,000 scholarship for his essay advocating greater space exploration.

Piotr Czarnecki of La Habra was selected this month among nine entrants as winner of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ first essay contest in Orange County.

Czarnecki said his winnings will go toward tuition at either UC Irvine or UCLA, where he plans to study biochemistry and aerospace engineering.

“I’m thinking about going into materials engineering because it is intertwined with the future of aerospace,” the 18-year-old said. “New materials have to be found for a lot of progress to be made. It’s like a new frontier.”

Czarnecki, who ranks at the top of his class with a 4.71 grade-point average, said the United States should be involved in international space missions in an effort to work for the “betterment of humanity.”

In his essay, he wrote: “Out of the space program whole new fields of science evolved. The research has created many spinoffs such as wonder drugs to treat cancer and other diseases. . . . It is time for all people and all nations of the world to unite and work hand in hand for a better, more prosperous tomorrow.”

Czarnecki won high points for his ability to present a clear, well-written discussion on what role the United States should play in international space missions, said Dallas Bienhoff, AIAA’s Orange County chairman.