Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It— Saturday, May 5

Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It

Di-Bi-Fi-Li-Ti is a design competition for cash prizes challenges kids to build an unbreakable balsawood bridge, create the perfect carton to protect a raw egg from a 3-story drop, fold and fly the farthest-flung paper airplane, blast off the best water bottle rocket for max time airborne, and create a thrill-packed roller coaster. The Florida Engineering Society tests the skills of junior high and high school students at the South Florida Science Museum in West Palm Beach on Saturday, May 5, 2012 from 8 AM to 3:30 PM. Students compete for over $3,500 in prize money.
1. Drop It: Design and build a shipping container that will prevent an uncooked egg from breaking when dropped from two successive heights, up to 50 feet.
2. Build It: Given a range of physical dimensions and using appropriate building materials, construct the lightest truss-frame bridge capable of supporting the greatest weight.
3. Fly It: Given a sheet of paper, design an airplane that will fly the longest distance.
4. Launch It: Construct a rocket propelled by “fuel” (12 ounces of water) and air compressed to 60 psi that will be launched at a predetermined angle to reach the maximum height and flight time possible.
5. Thrill It: Design a roller coaster to convey a marble or steel ball within designated parameters, so that it stays rolling the longest, is the most interesting to view and has a theme.

Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the event.

More information is available online at http://www.sfsm.org/

SECME Awards Banquet on Sun., May 6, 2012

The Annual SECME Celebration of Achievement Awards will take place on Sunday, May 6, 2012 from 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm at the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca
Center (click here for directions). This gala event honors this year’s Achievement Award recipients and celebrates the past year’s accomplishments. It includes student and coordinator awards, SECME Scholarship Awards, and a very dynamic guest speaker. It is not too late to get your reservations in for this great event. Price is $30.00 per person and make checks out to FAU SECME Foundation and mail it to Hazen and Sawyer, 7th Floor, North Tower, 4000 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, Fl. 33021

The following Seminole SECME participants are nominated for exceptional performance:
• SECME Student of the Year: Caitlin Miller
• Outstanding Student of the Year: Sam Smith

FAU AWARDS $12K SCHOLARSHIP TO SEMINOLE RIDGE SECME STUDENT

Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science will award a four-year SECME scholarship worth $12,000 to senior Caitlin Miller. Miller will be honored on Sunday, May 6, 2012 at SECME’s annual Celebration of Achievement banquet sponsored by industry partners that includes students, parents, teachers, school administrators, industry representatives and guest speaker.
Captian Caitlin Miller and Mother Miller
Seminole Ridge SECME coordinator and physics teacher Erich Landstrom said, “Caitlin truly belongs to what anthologist Margaret Mead once described as that small group of thoughtful, committed citizens who we should never doubt can change the world. Under her leadership, the Hawks soared high, taking home six trophies and ribbons at the annual engineering Olympiad. Caitlin helped me grow the school’s SECME program in very important ways. For example, this past November Caitlin lead our participation in “Engineering Family Fun Day,” a free annual event in Dreher Park that the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) hosts for Palm Beach County students. Caitlin also assists younger students. When students from Seminole Ridge volunteered to mentor the SECME program at Pierce Hammock Elementary School, Caitlin was the first to arrive and help their teams to build water rockets. Another instance of Caitlin bringing out the best was the “Let’s Build Something Together” challenge during February’s SECME Olympiad for elementary schools. She volunteered herself and her friends to give up a Saturday and to help with the “Gotta Regatta,” where students had to build a model boat and race them a filled rain gutter. Caitlin organized the activity so that nearly seven hundred students from 51 schools could see who had the fastest ferry.”

SECME students selected for the 2012-13 academic-year award receive a renewable $3,000 per year. Students must meet the academic requirements for admission into FAU and have participated in the SECME program in their high school. Applicants must major in Engineering, Mathematics, or Science, achieve a minimum score of 1450 (all three sections) on the SAT or a 21 on the ACT.

Brenda Simmons, director of FAU’s Division of Engineering Student Services, serves as the SECME director for FAU and chairs the SECME Industry Advisory Board. “It is very rewarding for me to work with the South Florida Industry Partners for Education, Broward County and Palm Beach Public Schools to increase the pool of talented students prepared to enter and succeed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Simmons. “The SECME program offers exceptional opportunities for K-12 students to learn, achieve, and become excited about engineering and science based careers.”

SECME is a pre-collegiate program whose mission is to increase the number of under-represented minority students qualified to enter and complete courses of study in the STEM disciplines. Since its inception in 1975, the SECME program has helped to increase the number of minority engineers, scientists and mathematicians by enriching students’ academic preparation from grades K-12 while providing experiences to help raise their levels of aspiration. Teacher training is a significant piece of the equation in order for the program to succeed. It is a coordinated effort with 37 universities, 70 corporations and governmental agencies in 15 states, as well as the District of Columbia. FAU became an official SECME university during the 1986-87 academic year.

Florida Atlantic University 's College of Engineering and Computer Science is committed to providing accessible and responsive programs of education and research recognized nationally for their high quality. Course offerings are presented on-campus, off-campus, and through distance learning in bioengineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, geomatics engineering, mechanical engineering and ocean engineering. For more information about the college, please visit www.eng.fau.edu .

Pass Judgement!

A reminder that tomorrow's SECME meeting is at Pierce Hammock Elementary School (14255 Hamlin Blvd. Loxahatchee, FL 33470) to help judge their science fair. Students are responsible for their own transportation.