An all-girl team from 'Iolani School brought a national championship home to Honolulu yesterday after serving notice to the nation that Hawai'i is fertile ground for female students who want to excel in science and engineering.

Unlike the state's national championship Little League baseball teams, the girls didn't win any games in Washington, D.C., over the weekend. But they did best their Mainland peers by redesigning a twin-engine jet aircraft to improve fuel efficiency.

The six 'Iolani School seniors, many of whom have applied to every Ivy League school, used tenacity, teamwork and brain power to beat out 54 high school students from 10 states en route to capturing the U.S. Department of Energy's 2009 Real World Design Challenge.

Provided with detailed specifications and performance capabilities of an existing twin-engine jet aircraft, the teams had to redesign the plane to improve its fuel efficiency without drastically reducing its load capacity, flying time or any other characteristic of the original aircraft.

When they returned home yesterday, Gov. Linda Lingle greeted the six girls and their coach at a private lounge at Honolulu International Airport and proclaimed yesterday 'Iolani Team Day.

Their victory was tremendous not only for the state, but for women everywhere who are under-represented in the field of science and engineering, Lingle said. Hopefully, she added, Hawai'i students interested in science, technology, engineering and math can look to the 'Iolani team's triumph as motivation to pursue their own endeavors.

"It brings a lot of attention to our state that our kids can compete at the very highest level," Lingle said. "Girls, as a whole, don't go toward the science, technology and engineering (fields). (This win) shows the girls that we can succeed at these ventures."

LEARNING ON OWN

The group juggled the rigors of an 'Iolani curriculum with the inaugural competition. And at the finals Saturday at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, the hard work paid off.

"These kids are very bright, but they have something else. They're not afraid to work hard, and they love challenges," said Carey Inouye, a physics teacher at 'Iolani and the team's coach. "They didn't know what they were getting into. I couldn't help them. We don't have a course on aviation design. They learned everything on their own."

Amy Ko, Adeline Li, Anya Liao, Celia Ou, Jessica Lynn Saylors and Julia Zhang spent every Saturday and Sunday since the start of the year sequestered with Inouye in an 'Iolani School classroom, poring over the specifications and performance capabilities of an existing aircraft while trying to learn what they could about aviation design.

It all paid off. And yesterday the girls were welcomed with lei, photographs from parents and a greeting from the governor.

"We feel like we're dreaming," Saylors said. "What an honor to have had the opportunity to compete, but winning the national championship makes it even better."

'Iolani received $3,000 for its science and technology programs, a trophy and a model of a Cessna Citation X aircraft. Each team member also won an iPod Shuffle. The girls also presented their design in the Air and Space Museum's IMAX theatre.

"I never expected us to go so far. To me, it wasn't any different than if we had boys on our team," said Li, 17, who has applied to Columbia, Cornell, Harvard and Princeton. "We just wanted to do our best. We all did it because we liked it."

PROUD PARENTS

Lingle said the 'Iolani girls' victory highlights the state's S.T.E.M. improvement efforts, or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. By "celebrating" and highlighting these types of accomplishments, Lingle said, Hawai'i will see the results that are badly need in the Islands and throughout the world.

While the girls soaked up the governor's attention, their parents hovered about with video cameras rolling.

"I'm very proud of her and the team. Overjoyed," said Henry Li, Adeline's father. "I was so excited when I learned they won first place."