True Challenge For Next Generation of Engineers
By Sharael Feist
February 16, 1999
Bay Area students recently embarked on a mission to “save an America’s Cup team from disaster.” The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose issued the challenge last month, and the students have already begun working on a solution.
Each year the museum hosts the “Tech Challenge,” an event for students in grades 5-12 that presents a technical problem devised by staff and other sponsoring organizations for the students to solve.
This year, the Tech Museum teamed up with America True to sponsor the engineering competition. Judith Fritz, Vice President of Programs at the Tech Museum, said they chose the nautical theme due to the publicity that will be surrounding the upcoming America’s Cup competition.
“We try to relate the science competition to real-world applications,” Fritz said. “We strive to capture something that students will see has a lot of notoriety and is newsworthy.” She also said that the theme “Rescue at Sea” adds an element of excitement and drama, capturing
the students’ imaginations.
Fritz said the museum also looks for a challenge that can be easily viewed by a large crowd. Due to the criteria, America True and the Tech Museum came up with the idea of having students create a device that would “climb” to the top of a simulated swaying boat mast and then return.
Aaron Perry, America True Design Assistant, kicked off the Tech Challenge clinic by talking about how yachts are designed, and showing some of the materials used in their construction. Perry said that it’s better to take collective ideas from a team, rather than one single concept, and he said the most successful solution would likely be a joint effort. His remarks coincide with the spirit of America True, and its True Youth program.
The teams are categorized into elementary, middle school, and high school teams. The prizes will be awarded to the best school, team, and individual. The winning school in each category will be awarded a cash prize. The winning team will be awarded a field trip, and individual prizes will consist of items donated by company sponsors, such as T-shirts and hats.
America True will follow the progression of two students, Stephanie Olliffe and Todd Knoch. Both students are from schools in San Jose, and they will work with other team members to come up with a solution to the problem.
Be sure to follow the progress of Stephanie and Todd on the America True web site. The Tech Challenge trials are March 20-21, 1-4 p.m., at the Tech Museum in San Jose. The final competition is April 14, 3 p.m., at the San Jose Civic Auditorium.