Tulsa World: Students become engineers

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Students become engineers
Kids from local elementary and high schools participate in the OSU-Tulsa challenge.

Pierce Gunnars, a fifth-grader at Union's Boevers Elementary School, works on a motor for a boat during an engineering challenge at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World

By SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer
Published: 2/20/2009 2:23 AM
Last Modified: 2/20/2009 2:56 AM

Building a model boat is fairly easy, and even getting it to float isn't that difficult. Getting it to move straight and move quickly, however, is a challenge.

Specifically, it's the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa Engineering Design Challenge for area elementary and high school students, held Thursday at OSU-Tulsa.

From fourth-graders to high school seniors, the students crowded around tables strewn with X-Acto knives, glue guns, nine-volt batteries and pieces of high-density foam. The four-person teams were instructed to build a motorized watercraft from a prepared kit and then race it against other teams in a track the size of a rain gutter.

"There a difference between making it go and making it efficient," said Carl Latino, an electrical and computer engineering professor who organizes the annual event.

The competition is inexpensive and versatile. The cost is about $4 a boat, and students of all ages can participate and discover how engineers solve problems, Latino said.

"It's fun, that's the best part," he said. "But it also gives them a glimpse: 'Is that what engineers do?' "

The reigning champions from Hale High School were working on a two-propeller model that they hoped would steal the competition. Last year, they smoked the other teams with a now-illegal rocket-propelled design that blasted through the track in less than a second.

"They get very creative," Latino said. "They come up with ideas I've never thought of."

The competition was boys versus girls for the students from McLain High School for Science and Technology. Some friendly trash-talking flowed between the tables as the students fine-tuned their designs.

"We're going to give them a whoopin'," Delatonta Scott said, just loud enough for the boys' team to hear.

The girls debated how far into the water the propeller should extend and how to keep the boat balanced on the track. Periodically, they tested the boat's buoyancy in nearby buckets of water.

The students said they were glad for a chance to get out of the classroom and learn their lessons in a different way.

Scott said she might even consider engineering as a career.

"I like to stay busy, and this keeps you busy," she said. "I think I might try it."

Despite some construction setbacks, a group of fifth-graders from Union's Darnaby Elementary School was determined to keep its boat from tipping over in the water bucket.

Dana Bundy, who teaches a gifted and talented class at the school, said the project taught the students principles of engineering and teamwork.

"It's not just teaching them ways to get along," she said. "They have to learn how to work together as a team."

Mark Boes, managing director of engineering at American Airlines, a sponsor of the event, said the industry needs more students to show an interest in engineering and enter its work force.

Boes was happy to see students of all ages excited about learning and practicing physics and design, he said.

"I think it's programs like this that really encourage them," he said. "It's the hands-on, not the purely academic."

Shannon Muchmore 581-8378
shannon.muchmore@tulsaworld.com By SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment CPT Ron, Lawton (2/20/2009 7:55:14 AM) I would like to see more photos of the boats, and a followup article describing the winning boat.
	Report Comment Proud Muslim, Tulsa: Coolest place in the world (almost) (2/20/2009 9:03:12 AM) Wish I could enter. Sounds like a good program.
	Report Comment Major...Missy, little town (2/20/2009 11:20:00 AM) Hope Floats,this is great for the kids.
	Report Comment Carrie, Tulsa (2/20/2009 1:56:15 PM) I was a volunteer there, and it was a lot of fun.
	Report Comment Big Harp, Fernandina Beach (2/20/2009 4:36:19 PM) Programs like this is what keeps kids interested in school, not some standardized test that has nothing to do with reality.

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