21st Annual Engineering, Science, & Technology Design Contest

PUEBLO - The Pueblo School of Engineering and Biomedical Sciences and Connect Charter School (Pueblo) will attempt to hold on to their traveling trophies as champions of the 2014 Colorado State University - Pueblo Engineering, Science and Technology Design Contest. Approximately 300 students from eight high schools and seven middle schools are registered to participate in the 21th Annual Design Contest set for Saturday, April 18 in the Life Sciences Building and the Technology Building.

Faculty and student clubs within the CSU - Pueblo College of Education, Engineering, and Professional Studies will conduct the event.

The 306 students are organized into 191 teams for the seven-event competition that challenges students' critical thinking, teamwork, and creative design skills. Five different individual competitions, requiring designs, evaluate student-produced projects in areas like mousetrap cars and catapults, concrete barge, bridge building, and on-site construction. Student-built projects are tested against specific performance criteria. Two additional impromptu strategy events further test students' ability to communicate, and rapidly construct workable solutions when presented with challenges the day of the competition.

Teams will test their designs and strategies for the final competition from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. During the competition, two- and three-member teams compete for the top three places in seven individual events in both middle and high school divisions, as well as for overall middle and high school team awards. Traveling trophies have been established for the top schools in the two categories. The Pueblo School of Engineering and Biomedical Sciences and Connect Charter School will return to defend their titles from the 2014 event. Top finishers receive technical calculators and other prizes.

Participating high schools include Alamosa, Colorado Springs' Doherty, Denver's Westminster, Pueblo West, and the Pueblo School of Engineering and Biological Science. Middle schools registering teams include; Colorado Springs's Jenkins, North, and Sabin; and five middle schools from Pueblo: Connect, Heaton, Pueblo School for Arts and Sciences, Roncalli STEM Academy and Paragon Opportunity School.

For more information, contact Dr. George Dallam, competition chair, at 719.549.2619 or Dr. Sylvester Kalevela, interim dean of the College of Education, Engineering, and Professional Studies, at 719.549.2696.

Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.