FAU ROCKETRY TEAM TAKES TOP NATIONAL AWARD

Team Otus Magicus from left to right: Joah Levine, Cameron McMullen and Michael Laverde

by KELSIE WEEKES | Thursday, Jun 15, 2017

A middle school rocketry team from Florida Atlantic University’s A.D. Henderson University School recently won first place in the nation in the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering (SECME) rocketry contest. SECME determines the overall winner based on official regional scores sent in to the national SECME organization.

Team Otus Magicus took the top prize in the “Water Rocket” category, which required teams to design and construct a water-powered bottle rocket using a two-liter soda bottle. The FAU team achieved the longest flight time without deploying any type of parachute to slow the rocket’s descent.

Otus Magicus, which includes seventh-grade students Joah Levine, Michael Laverde and Cameron McMullen, also placed second overall out of 58 middle school teams at the Palm Beach SECME regional qualifier, which took place at Santaluces High School in April. The team placed first in rocketry, wind-powered generator and mousetrap car, and took second place in the balsa bridge competition.

“We are so proud of all that our SECME teams have accomplished here at A.D. Henderson University School,” said Jim Nance, SECME sponsor at A.D. Henderson. “We look forward to watching our students continue to hone their STEM skills in the classroom and in competition as they prepare for the future STEM workforce.”

Otus Magicus will travel to the University of Alabama later this month to compete in the National SECME Championship for their mousetrap car design. For more information about the competition, visit http://secmeinc.wixsite.com/secme.

-FAU-