US Army Corps of Engineers holds largest STEM event in the South

By Jean M. Pavlov (USACE)March 3, 2014

Christ's Church Academy
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Judges watch as ping pong balls are launched by Rachal Faircloth (center) and Riley Brandvold (right) from Christ's Church Academy, Team C, in an attempt to hit a designated spot to gain points. Along with partners Rebecca Carter and Sean Quinlan, t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Popular atomic multi-firing launcher
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The popular atomic multi-firing launcher made by Providence Extension Program, Team A, was one of the highlights of Engineering Career Day's tale home projects. Hudson Horne (in lab coat) inserts a rod into the ball assembly, while Tanner Lee Brown,... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Winners of Engineering Career Day
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The winning team, Eagle's View Academy, Team A, was awarded the James L. Garland Award for Engineering Excellence. From left: Col. Alan M. Dodd, Commander, Jacksonville District Corps of Engineers, Tucker Davis, Ryan Criswell, Ryan Stevens, Eric Rod... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

More than 150 high school students and teachers from 13 public and private schools in northeast Florida attended the annual Engineering Career Day event, hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District on Feb. 21. This day-long event was the largest yet for the District which has been co-sponsoring Engineering Career Day with the Society of American Engineers (SAME) Jacksonville Post for the past 12 years.

"The goal of Career Day is to expose local students who may already have an interest in STEM professions to various aspects of engineering and encourage them to consider pursuing a STEM-related college degree. By providing a challenging technical take home project and a surprise problem the day of the event, students get the opportunity to realize engineering can be interesting and fun," said Matt Lesser, P.E., event chair. STEM education is a movement in American education to help teachers and students understand how the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics impact the world and prepare students for the workforce of tomorrow.

Career Day 2014's take home problem involved developing a ping pong ball launcher capable of rapidly and accurately firing through three vertical holes of varying diameters from a distance of 15 feet. Each team received 50 balls and only ten minutes for setting up and firing which made the task even more challenging. The students' creativity was on full display as a wide variety of launchers were engineered for the challenge. Eagle's View Academy's Team B won first place and Team A won second place in the highly competitive event.

The students were greeted on the day of the event with a very challenging surprise problem that required students to build a bridge capable of spanning a 7.75-inch chasm with only a single sheet of standard letter-size paper. The bridge was then loaded with sightseers (pennies) until total collapse occurred. Eagle's View Academy continued their strong showing as Team A's bridge won first place by supporting 256 sightseers, or nearly 28 ounces.

Eagle's View Academy entered four teams with teams A and B placing first and second overall respectively. Col. Alan M. Dodd, Commander, Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Naval Facilities Engineering Command Commander and current President of the Jacksonville SAME Post, Capt. Christopher H. Kiwus, U.S. Navy, CEC, presented the Eagle's View Team with the Stanley Cup of engineering, the James L. Garland Award for Engineering Excellence. This award includes plaques representing all past winners and will make Eagle's View Academy its home for the year to come.

Winners for the Engineering Career Day Event were:

Overall winners:

1st Place and winners of The James L. Garland Award for Engineering Excellence: Eagle's View Academy, Team A.

Ryan Criswell, Ryan Stephens, Eric Rodlich and Tucker Davis. Instructor: Susan Dixon.

2nd Place: Eagle's View Academy, Team B

Cameron Olsen, Dalton Bishop, Logan Shull and Jon Ehly. Instructor: Susan Dixon.

3rd Place: Bishop Kenny High School, Team C

Connor Noe, Harris Newsteder, Erik Sampayo and Royce Reyes. Instructor: Vicki Schmidt.

Special Recognition from the Events Judges to Atlantic Coast High School

Siyuan Wu, Zachary Joswick, Kyle See, and Arya Khalesi. Instructors: Aseema Sharma and Joseph Williams

Winners in Individual Team Events were:

Surprise Problem --

1st Place: Eagle's View Academy, Team A

2nd Place: Providence High School, Team C.

Grace and Emma Stotlemyer, Ashley Hughes and Cairis Barron. Instructor: Laura McGill.

3rd Place: Christ's Church Academy, Team C.

Rebecca Carter, Rachel Faircloth, Riley Brandvold and Sean Quinlan. Instructor: Eugene Clifford.

Take Home Challenge -

1st Place: Eagle's View Academy B.

2nd Place: Eagle's View Academy A.

3rd Place: Bishop Kenny High School, Team C.

"The Corps and SAME have been actively involved in engaging local students in engineering activities during Engineering Career Week for many years," said Laureen Borochaner, chief of engineering for the Corps' Jacksonville District office. "We believe that these local students are the engineers and scientists of the future and early mentoring is crucial for their future success. Our partnership with local schools overall benefits the profession. I am grateful for all the local companies, universities and volunteers that help make this such a great event."

Related Links:

HQ, US Army Corps of Engineers