Students engineer teamwork in competition
Roberto M. Esquivel/HeraldStandard.com Text books ranging from anatomy, biology, and calculus were used by students during the recent annual TEAMS competition held at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Text books ranging from anatomy, biology, and calculus were used by students during the recent annual competition.
Shane Ickes (left) and Brenden Knecht, students at Somerset Area High School, find a spot among the stacks to work on their problem.
Roberto M. Esquivel/HeraldStandard.comrd.com
A student makes use of a scientific calculator to work on engineering problem during the recent annual TEAMS competition.
Abbey Siebert (left) and Crystal Fordyce, students at Laurel Highlands High School, share ideas as they tackle their problem.
Lindsey Dove, a senior at Connellsville Area High School, works on math and science problems along with her classmates during the recent annual TEAMS competition.
Brandon Faieta and Heidi Daines, representing Jefferson-Morgan High School, work on engineering problems.
A national student competition that supports the field of engineering has shown participants that more heads together are better than one.
About 120 classmates from Connellsville Area, Jefferson-Morgan, Laurel Highlands, Somerset Area, Peters Township and Ringgold school districts recently participated in the Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) competition at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. The teams of about eight students were charged with solving engineering problems that promote learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Concepts are developed for the competition based on the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges to support a new theme each year. This year’s theme is centered around the biomedical field.
According to Dave Meredith, host site organizer, he has been involved with the competition since it became a national event in 1987. He said over the years, it has become apparent that the students who participate and excel in the competition are not necessarily the most academic in their schools, but rather those who understand the importance of teamwork.
“Engineering is really about blending the knowledge of everyone,” he said. “I tell all the kids who participate that engineers always work in teams because no one person can know all the stuff they would need to know to complete the task.”
Coordinated by the Technology Student Association, a national nonprofit organization based in Reston, Va., the competition is divided into two parts, with the first lasting 90 minutes and containing 80 multiple choice questions. Each group of 10 questions is related to a specific problem relating to the overall theme. The second part consists of eight open-ended tasks with a goal of encouraging teamwork to examine the best answer, Meredith said.
The scores of the two parts then determine the winners at the regional, state and national level. The competition is also divided into two skill levels — a test for the junior varsity teams with students in grades nine and 10, and a test for varsity members with students in grades 11 and 12.
Laurel Highlands High School senior Justin Glosner said it was the second time he has participated in the competition and enjoys the challenge of the tough competition.
“It’s taking everyone’s strong points and bringing them together,” said Glosner, who noted that physics was his major contribution to the team. “When we are working as a team it seems to come together better.”
Glosner and the other students in the competition used physics, chemistry, biology and math to complete the test scenarios, including the development and design of artificial heart valves, drug development, bioheat transfer and clinical trials.
For Connellsville Area High School junior Tanner Grace, this year’s theme related well to what he will study in college.
“I am going into biology and medicine, so this helps a lot,” said Grace, who also participated in the event last year. “It’s good experience and associates well with what is going to be going on in my life.”
Meredith said competitions such as TEAMS will allow students to be exposed to the vast engineering job market where employment is always in demand.
“Engineers are really never without a job because the field is behind just about everything,” he said. “It’s important to show them that and, hopefully, some of these kids will go into engineering.”