Nora Belkhayat, a seventh-grader from Francis C. Hammond Middle School, won first place in the middle-school division of the 2009 Imagine That! Engineering Innovation Essay Contest for an essay that described a magnetic-levitation type of transportation that she called the spit-baller.

The national contest, sponsored by the National Academy of Engineerings EngineerGirl! website, asked students to consider one of three images on the EngineerGirl! site and to talk about the objects possible uses and its engineering creativity. More than 400 students in grades three through 12 submitted essays.

For her efforts, Belkhayat received a $500 prize. Her essay is posted along with those of other winners at www.engineeringgirl.org. The EngineerGirl! site offers information on different engineering fields and careers, as well as games, books and other engineering resources for middle-school girls.