Downers Grove High Schoolers Take Home the Gold in 'Engineering Olympics'

Submitted by Community High School District 99.

A team of five students from Downers Grove South High School took first place at the 2017 College of DuPage Engineering Olympics, held on February 10, 2017. The winning team members include: Ian Bales, Stefan Neumann, Jackson Kamedulski, Ian Smith, and Maximilian Schmidt-Bailey. Altogether, 50 teams from surrounding high schools participated in the annual event, which seeks to engage students who are interested in the field of engineering.

The Engineering Olympics is a design challenge where teams participate in short design competitions, creating prototypes such as a motorized car and a projectile launcher that are made out of common materials like CDs, rubber bands, file folders, duct tape, and anything else that a person might have in their desk. The Engineering Olympics is hosted by the College of DuPage Engineering and Technology Club. All designing and building occur within the competition timeframe.

“There is nothing quite like a hands-on challenge to get students excited about science,” says Downers Grove South Science Teacher Stephen Zownorega, who led the field trip. “This event brings to life the creative side of engineering, and how solving real-world problems can be fun and requires a true team effort.”

The winning team scored 360 points which is a score that is based upon students trying to maximize certain elements of their design; they received a plaque to display at DGS. Another team of students that competed included: Jesse Knight, Jon Urgello, Noah Tunney, Steven Komendanchik and Matthew Campbell.

The goal of the event is to encourage high schools students with an interest in engineering to consider pursuing education and careers in the field.

For more information about the COD Engineering Olympics, visit http://www.cod.edu/academics/stem/engineering_olympics/.

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Photo courtesy of District 99