In the SECME program, students are required to design, build, and test a variety of engineering and research projects throughout the year. SECME student teams will construct balsawood bridges for structural efficiency. Cars powered solely by the spring from a mousetrap will race across gymnasium floors and water bottle rockets will launch into the air to maintaining the maximum hang time. Essays, artwork, and banners communicating student interpretations of this year’s theme, SECME: STEMulating Minds, will be displayed and judged.
The Olympiad competition is the culmination of projects completed as a result of classroom activities, and of students, parents, and teachers participating in Saturday engineering design seminars. The seminars familiarize students with the events in the annual Olympiad completion. They provide the people, the place, and the parts to work on SECME submissions. Students also interact with practicing engineers who help them understand the importance of education in the global economy with the ultimate goal of encouraging students to pursue postsecondary degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
Above: Cindy Dosch, left, and Brian Bartles, right, from Seminole Ridge SECME work intently on a nosecone during a Bottle Rocket Design Seminar. The School District of Palm Beach County and the SECME South Florida Industry Partners are hosting the following design seminars this autumn. All seminars are from 9 AM to 1 PM. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the seminars:
• Sat., Sept. 25—Bridge/Truss Design at Palm Springs Middle, 1560 Kirk Rd., West Palm Beach, FL
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. West to Kirk Rd. School on NE corner.
• Sat., Oct 2—Mousetrap Vehicle Design at H.L. Johnson Elementary, 1000 Crestwood Blvd. N., Royal Palm Beach, FL
Directions: I-95 to Okeechobee Blvd. West to Royal Palm Beach Blvd. Turn north on Royal Palm Bch. Blvd. School on west side of street.
• Wed., Oct 6 at 4:30 PM—Banner/Poster/Brain Bowl at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center. Coordinators only.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Sat., Oct 23—Bottle Rocket Design Seminar at Discovery Key Elementary, 3550 Lyons Rd., Lake Worth, FL
Directions: I-95 to 10th Ave. N. Go west to Jog Rd. South on Jog to Lake Worth Rd. West on Lake Worth Rd. to Lyons Rd. North on Lyons. School is on the right--past entrance to Cypress Woods development.
• Wed. Nov 3 @ 4:30 PM—Technical reports and drawings drafting at Fulton-Holland Educational Services Center. Coordinators only.
Directions: I-95 to Forest Hill Blvd. Go west on Forest Hill past Congress Ave. Turn left at Davis Road. Building is on left.
• Sat., Nov. 20—Seminole Ridge STEMinar on Mousetrap Vehicles and Bridges at Seminole Ridge High, 4601 Seminole Pratt Whitney Rd., Loxahatchee, FL 33470
Directions: I-95 to Okeechobee, west on Okeechobee Blvd. approx. 14 miles; right on Seminole Pratt Whitney Rd. approx. 2.5 miles; school is on the left. For more maps and directions from Seminole Ridge High, visit http://tinyurl.com/SeminoleRidgeHigh
• Sat., Dec. 4—Bottle Rockets Design at Don Estridge Middle, 1798 NW Spanish River Blvd., Boca Raton, FL
Directions: I-95 to Yamato Road. West to Military Trail. South to next light--Spanish River Blvd. Go east on Spanish River Blvd. School is on south side.
