Local engineers show students how ‘Engineers make a world of difference’

  • Published
  • By Raquel March and Deidre Ortiz
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  Students in the region teamed with AEDC engineers to experience work environments and competitions during National Engineers Week, Feb. 21-27, focused on the national theme "Engineers make a world of difference."

Engineers in the local area volunteered their time to assist with engineering mentoring opportunities and competitions geared toward engineering concepts.

Engineers Week began with the MouthCounts® competition Feb. 6 at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. The competition was a local event where the winners were combined into a team that will compete at the state level and possibly at the national level. Thirty-nine students in seventh and eighth grades competed from Bedford, Coffee, Franklin and Lincoln counties.

The competition challenges mathletes to solve problems.

East Middle School from Coffee County placed first in the competition followed by second place team, The Webb School, Bedford County; and third place team, West Middle School, Coffee County. East Middle School is joined by the top four scoring individuals not on the winning team to complete the Tullahoma team who will compete at the state level. The team members are Trace Baxter, Landon Boone, Jacob Howell, Patrick Watts and Spencer Yoder from East Middle School; Will Arnett from West Middle School; Tiger Wang from The Webb School; and Sam Robinson from The Highland Rim School.

The top three scoring individuals in order of first to third place were Yoder, Watts and
Baxter.

Organizers of the Student Design Competition on Feb. 22 at the Tullahoma Hands on Science Center hosted 61 students in teams of two from The Webb School, Shelbyville Central High School, Huntland High School, Tullahoma High School, Coffee County Central High School, Franklin County High School, St. Andrews-Sewanee School and Cascade High School.

The challenge presented to the students at the competition was to design and build a bridge large enough to support a mass exodus for a city.

Given the parameters and provided materials, such as pasta and other items, teams built bridges that needed to support a bucket with a chain as well as a brick.
The Webb School, with team members John Farris and Daniel McNair, placed first. Second Place winners were team members Lewis Purdue, Alec Yen and Dryden Young with Tullahoma High School. Third place winners were team members Cooper Nickels and Sam Smith with St. Andrews-Sewanee School.

"Engineer's Week was a great success with participation and involvement of students from 12 high schools from the surrounding area. Thirty four students participated in the mentoring program Engineer For a Day held Feb. 24, and 61 students took part in the impromptu Student Design Competition at the Hands On Science Center," said Paul Ritter, AEDC engineer and coordinator of the Student Design Competition.
As part of Engineer For a Day, students toured AEDC and joined their mentors in mechanical, computer, electrical and chemical engineering careers to learn more about the different areas.

The final event of the week was the Engineers Week Banquet held Feb. 25 at the Manchester/Coffee County Conference Center where Les Johnson, deputy manager for the NASA Advanced Concepts Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, was the speaker. Engineers from the local area attended the banquet to celebrate the accomplishments of engineers and students.

Paul Kelly, AEDC engineer and coordinator of Engineer's Week, thanked Johnson for agreeing to speak and providing the group with an inspiring message.

"AIAA Distinguished lecturer, Les Johnson helped finish out the week by taking us on journey to the outer reaches of our solar system and beyond via his vision of using solar sails as a novel means of propulsion," he said.

Participating organizations included the Tullahoma Chapter of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers, the Highland Rim Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Tennessee section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals, the Project Management Institute and the AEDC Science Technical Engineering and Math Program.

-AEDC-