High school students compete in engineering challenge

High school students from across south central Indiana were put to the test during an annual engineering challenge.

The Engineers Infinity War at the Purdue Polytechnic Columbus campus April 6 included 164 students from eight different high schools, including Columbus North, Columbus East and Columbus Signature Academy — New Tech.

The Boiler Tech Challenge featured teams of four competing in challenges within five categories. Each challenge allowed students to develop teamwork and communication skills while checking out what the Purdue Polytechnic campus has to offer, said Joseph Fuehne, Purdue Polytechnic Columbus director.

Students are not told specifics about the challenge until the day of the event, requiring them to work quickly, Fuehne said. The goal is to solve the timed challenges using a limited amount of materials, Fuehne said.

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While the teams were evaluated on how quickly they could successfully complete their challenge within a designated time, they were also scored based on their presentation skills and how well they could communicate about the process leading to their solutions.

“We don’t tell them how to solve the problem,” Fuehne said. “It’s fun to see them working. We’re looking for people who can be creative and solve problems.”

Matt Ferrell, metrology laboratory manager at Purdue Polytechnic Columbus, developed all of the challenges this year focusing on elements such as pressure, hydraulics and electromagnetics.

He said he never knows what students will come up with when working the problems.

“I love to see that ingenuity that just happens,” Ferrell said.

One of the challenges, Free It, focused on hydraulics and required teams to develop a device using items from a bag of materials to retrieve Marvel Comics character Thor, who is behind a gate and needs to travel through a 4-inch by 24-inch tube. In addition, teams also had to close the gate within the three-minute time frame given for the challenge.

Wyatt St. John, a sophomore at Jennings County High School, worked with teammates Corb Caudill, Ethan Stidham and Cameron Woodard in the challenge. They used items such as wooden dowels, tubing, duct tape, and paperclips to construct their device, which was first used to retrieve Thor and then flipped over to close the gate.

St. John attended the Boiler Tech Challenge in 2017 and said the event is a fun way to meet new people.

“You get out of your comfort zone and explore new things,” St. John said.

St. John, who hopes to study mechanical engineering at Purdue University once he graduates, said his team’s approach was simple.

“We wanted to make sure we didn’t overthink it,” he said. “Once we got going, it was a rough start, but we worked out the kinks.”

Another challenge was to build a robot to move ping pong balls to designated areas for the challenge.

Columbus North sophomores Dee Iyer and Rishabh Kulkarni were among those working to construct their robot.

Iyer had some knowledge going into the event of how to build a robot based off her involvement with GalacTech, a local robotics team made up of students from North, East and CSA New Tech.

“A lot of our skills we’re using come from there,” she said.

The team built a robot that moved by remote control and used a wheel mechanism to pick up individual ping-pong balls.

Columbus East High School junior Szczesny Lipinski, who competed for the second year in a row, also said the social aspect of the Boiler Tech Challenge is something she enjoys. Lipinski, whose team was made up of seniors Autumn Fateleg, Rissa Towsley and Gavin Roberts, was less concerned about how Columbus East placed in the end.

“We feel really confident, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter,” she said. “It’s a really good opportunity and have a good time.”

Roberts returned to the Boiler Tech Challenge for the fourth year and said he’s leaning toward majoring in either mechanical or electrical engineering after graduation.

Lipinski has accepted a summer internship with local manufacturer Vernet and said the Boiler Tech Challenge was a good way for her to develop important skills including communication and working with others.

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Overall winners

1st place: Brown County High School

2nd place: North Decatur High School

3rd place: South Decatur High School

Traverse It:

1st place: Columbus North High School

2nd place: Brown County High School

3rd place: North Decatur High School

Shield It

1st place: South Decatur High School

2nd place: North Decatur High School

3rd place: North Decatur High School

Balance It:

1st place: Columbus North High School

2nd place: Brown County High School

3rd place: North Decatur High School

Free It:

1st place: North Decatur High School

2nd place: Brown County High School

3rd place: Jennings County High School

Save It:

1st place: Brown County High School

2nd place: Columbus North High School

3rd place: Jennings County High School

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