COCOA, May 09, 2013— With clouds in the sky and all eyes on the weather, more than 600 elementary, middle and high school students were energized on Saturday, May 4th. Student teams—from Key West to as far away as North Carolina—gathered at UCF’s Florida Solar Energy Center on Saturday to demonstrate their Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) skills by competing at the 11th annual EnergyWhiz Olympics.
The daylong event started out cloudy and posed challenges to the solar-dependent competitions, especially the Bright House Solar Energy Cook-off and the Junior Solar Sprint (solar-powered model car) teams. Although weather conditions were less than ideal, the sun managed to peek through the clouds and provide just enough energy for the teams to get through the solar competitions. And although Energy Innovations, a full-scale solar electric design and marketing challenge, depend on the sun for their complete product demonstration, teams also created marketing pieces—such as brochures, fliers, and posters—to promote their product.
Fortunately, the rain held off until later in the day, allowing the Battery Assisted Transport (B.A.T.) Mobile, model-size electric cars, and the Electrathon, go-cart size electric cars, to compete without incident.
The Hydrogen Challenge, located indoors, attracted a large audience as students demonstrated their understanding of energy transfers through a custom-built Rube Goldberg-type apparatus. “The phenomenally creative and intricate contraptions were a challenge to judge,” said Eric Hoepnner, former middle school science teacher. Built with a hydrogen fuel cell in one of the steps, the timed machines were judged on accuracy, innovation, complexity, technical sophistication, and their use of fuel cell technology. Nearly doubling in size from last year, this event is expected to have even more participants next year. “There’s a huge coolness factor with this event,” Hoeppner added.
These hands-on renewable energy competitions expose students to alternative energy fuel sources and encourage scientific know-how, creative thinking, experimentation and teamwork.
Susan Schleith, energy education director at FSEC says, “As our event continues to grow each year, my goal is to establish regional events around the state, with the ultimate competition taking place at FSEC. This would allow even more students to participate, and create a broadened awareness statewide. Tight school budgets and travel costs provide challenges that some student teams just can’t overcome.”
This year’s winners are:
B.A.T. (Battery Assisted Transport) Mobile Challenge
1st Place Race: Race Girls, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
2nd Place Race: Millennium Panther, Lewis E. Wadsworth Elementary, Palm Coast
3rd Place Race: Salt & Pepper, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
1st Place Design : Race Girls, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
2nd Place Design: Millennium Panther, Lewis E. Wadsworth Elementary, Palm Coast
3rd Place Design: The Anaxagoras, Montessori World Academy, Orlando
Energy Innovations
Middle Division
1st Place Design: Sunny Circus Snacks, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
2nd Place Design: Urban Garden, Howard Middle, Orlando
3rd Place Design: Cooking Device, Hidden Oaks Middle, Palm City
High School Division
1st Place Design: The Sunfisher, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
2nd Place Design: Suk-A-Poop, Island Coast High, Cape Coral
3rd Place Design: Solar Bike, Dunbar High, Fort Myers
All Divisions
WOW! Award: The Sunfisher, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
Hydrogen Challenge
Middle Division
1st Place: The Flying Fish, Stewart Middle, Tampa
2nd Place: The Kit Kats, Lake Nona Middle, Orlando
3rd Place: Child’s Play, Gifford Middle, Vero Beach
Most Accurate: N.E.R.D.S. – New Energy Regeneration Device, Gulf Coast Academy, Spring Hill
High School Division
1st Place: Tiger Engineering, Dunbar High, Fort Myers
2nd Place: The Domino Theory, Edgewood Jr/ Sr High, Merritt Island
3rd Place: Race Girls, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
Most Accurate: Race Girls, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
All Divisions
WOW! Award: The Flying Fish, Stewart Middle, Tampa
Junior Solar Sprint
Elementary Division
1st Place Race: The Silver Streak, Pine View School, Osprey
2nd Place Race: The Mock Five, Triangle Math & Science, Raleigh, NC
3rd Place Race: Solar Surfers, Hidden Oaks Middle, Palm City
Middle Division
1st Place Race: Vibot 3, McLane Middle, Brandon
2nd Place Race: OLL Rockets, Our Lake of Lourdes Catholic, Melbourne
3rd Place Race: Vibot 2, McLane Middle, Brandon
Overall Awards
1st Place Design: Vibot 1, Brandon Engineering Academy, Brandon
2nd Place Design: Solar Surfers, Hidden Oaks Middle, Palm City
3rd Place Design: Shorthorn Strikers, Harmony Community School, Harmony
1st Place Most Innovative: Pride All Stars, Lake Nona Middle, Orlando
2nd Place Most Innovative: Solar Racers, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic, Melbourne
3rd Place Most Innovative: Vibot 3, McLane Middle, Brandon
Brighthouse Solar Energy Cook-Off
Elementary Division
1st Place Design: May The 4th Be With You, Lawton Chiles Elementary, Tampa
2nd Place Design: Sunny Sisters, St. Martha Catholic, Sarasota
3rd Place Design: Team Nemo, Martinez Middle, Lutz
1st Place Culinary: Solar Buddies, Hidden Oaks Middle, Palm City
2nd Place Culinary: Something’s Fishy, Gardendale Elementary, Merritt Island
3rd Place Culinary: The Solar Flares, Ocean Breeze Elementary, Indian Harbor Beach
WOW! Award: Seuss Chefs, Lewis Carroll Elementary, Merritt Island
Middle Division
1st Place Design: Milwee 1, Milwee Middle, Longwood
2nd Place Design: Spectrum, L.A. Ainger Middle, Rotonda West
3rd Place Design: The Neon Narwhals, Stewart Middle, Tampa
1st Place Culinary: G.E.M.S., Girl Scout Troop 30027, Stuart
2nd Place Culinary: The Hobbit Party, L.A. Ainger, Rotonda West
3rd Place Culinary: Milwee 2, Milwee Middle, Longwood
WOW! Award: Solar Sorcerers, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
High School Division
1st Place Design: Solar Tree Café, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island
2nd Place Design: UV Gators, Island Coast High, Cape Coral
3rd Place Design: Tiger Engineering, Dunbar High, Fort Myers
1st Place Culinary: Solar Tree Café, Edgewood Jr/Sr High, Merritt Island High
2nd Place Culinary: Solar Apes 1, Pine Ridge High, Deltona
3rd Place Culinary: Solar Burst, T.DeWitt Taylor, Pierson
WOW! Award: UV Gators, Island Coast High, Cape Coral
For more information, visit
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/education/k-12/energywhiz_olympics/index.htm, or watch a video about the EnergyWhiz Olympics at http://vimeo.com/9522310.
CONTACTS:
Susan Schleith, Director Energy Education, 321-638-1017 or susan@fsec.ucf.edu
Sherri Shields, Asst. Director Communications, 321-638-1019 or sherri@fsec.ucf.edu
About FSEC: The Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida, is the largest and most active state-supported energy research institute in the nation. Current divisions and their research activities include Advanced Energy Research: alternative transportation systems, hydrogen fuel and fuel cells; Buildings Research: energy-efficient buildings; and Solar Energy: solar water and pool heating, and solar electric and distributed generation systems. For more information about the center, visit http://www.floridaenergycenter.org or call the FSEC Public Affairs Office at 321-638-1015.
UCF Stands For Opportunity: The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 2nd largest in the nation with more than 59,000 students. UCF’s first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region’s economic development. UCF’s culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more information, visit http://news.ucf.edu.
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PR13-02