FAU TEAM TAKES SECOND PLACE AT SECME NATIONALS
by KELSIE WEEKES | Monday, Jul 03, 2017
A team of seventh-grade students from Florida Atlantic University’s A.D. Henderson University School (ADHUS) recently took second place in the mousetrap car competition at the 2017 SECME National Competition at the University of Alabama. Finalists from 16 states and the Bahamas were represented at the competition, which included sponsors such as ExxonMobil and DuPont.
On the first day of the competition, the FAU team Otus Magicus, including Joah Levine, Ashley Ulbrich and Cameron McMullen, submitted their mousetrap car for technical inspection and were interviewed by a panel of judges about their design process. Later, the team had two chances to run their car, and were judged based on the length and weight of their vehicle and the distance and speed of their runs. The team’s second-place finish was based off of their overall scores for their technical paper, technical drawing, presentation and performance.
“I am incredibly proud of our team’s success at the national level,” said James Nance, STEM instructor and SECME coordinator at ADHUS. “This finish is in addition to our SECME team winning the national rocketry competition earlier this school year. Their achievements are especially impressive considering this was the first year SECME was introduced as an extracurricular activity at A.D. Henderson and FAU High.”
In addition to the competition, Otus Magicus received a guided tour of the University of Alabama’s engineering facilities as well as an educational science show prior to the awards ceremony. The team is already planning their campaign to win the regional competition again next year, and vie for the national title.
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