|
|
LAWRENCE -- The University of Kansas School of Engineering will give regional high school students a chance to go to their own "Final Four."
The school's annual High School Design Competition, on Nov. 5, plays on KU's rich basketball heritage with a contest dubbed "Nothin' But Net." Participating high school students must design and construct a device that will shoot pingpong balls through a children's play basketball goal.
"We have another fun and challenging event planned this year," said Robert Sorem, associate dean of the engineering school. "The students bring so much creativity and talent to the design competition, and every year they prove they are up to the project."
The competition, which traditionally draws hundreds of high school students to the KU campus, gives those students an opportunity to explore scientific principles and engineering practices as they create a device from scratch in their hometown. Students then bring their creation to the KU contest to see how it stacks up against devices from other students in the state.
"The crowd really gets into the spirit of the competition," Sorem said. "Some of the student teams put a lot of care and effort into how their devices look and work, but often there's a level of unpredictability about the designs. You never know what's going to happen, and the crowd loves that. No matter what school you're from, it's always a fun time."
The contest is open to all high school students in Kansas and in the Kansas City metropolitan area. However, the students must work in teams and have a teacher or adult sponsor present. The device can be constructed with a variety of materials, but commercially available pingpong ball launching devices are forbidden. The machine, which can be either automatically or manually operated, must not emit any noxious fumes.
Each team of students will have 60 seconds to sink as many pingpong balls through the goal as it can. Successful shots from a 4-foot to 8-foot range will be awarded 2 points. Successful shots beyond 8 feet will be awarded 3 points. The four teams with the highest point totals will advance to a playoff round.
The winning teams will receive plaques and medals. Awards also will be given for creativity and crowd-pleasing attributes.
Several activities scheduled during the design competition will give high school students a chance to learn more about engineering programs at KU as well as career opportunities in engineering.
"The high school students work so hard on these projects, and they learn a lot about themselves in the process," Sorem said. "We know they all will walk away winners."
With the launch this year of a new online registration page, teachers may sign up for the design competition and register their student teams online. Complete schedule information and rules for the "Nothin' But Net" device also are posted online. Go to www.engr.ku.edu and follow the High School Design Competition link for all the details. Deadline for registering for the event is Oct. 25.
For more information, interested people can contact Ginny Pearson at (785) 864-2931 or gpearson@ku.edu.
-30-