On Friday the 24th a group of Young Engineers (Brooklyn Junor, Lochlan Shivas, David Majewski, Finlay Clarke and Josh Steell) attended the Technology Challenges 2013 at Nigg Community Hall. We went with two teachers, Mr McColl and Mr Rasmussen.
The first challenge was to fly a remote controlled helicopter through two hoops. We had to fly them through the same hoop twice then through the second one. Afterwards we had to make a jigsaw which represented a blood circulation device used by diabetics. We then had to make an efficient wind turbine which we struggled with. Then it was onto a robotic arm to move blocks this made a code that represents an element on the periodic table. After that we had to use a remote controlled forklift to move blocks around an obstacle course and at the same time avoid cones. Here we got a 5 second time penalty. We then had to make a bridge that could support the forklift as well. We had lunch after this and then we went to the back of the building and saw a room full of paper and tape where we had to make paper aeroplanes. Here, we had the highest scores on the paper plane with 71 points! We had a fantastic design (thought of by Lochlan) that we just made more of! We had a bit of a production line going which was most likely why we won. After that we got to try out the catapult which was okay but we stressed out a bit as we did not have the best of aim.
Later, we were all called to the top of the hall for the announcement of the winners. Lochlan and I were sitting there jumping because we saw the sheet and saw Invergordon at the top! It was a close call but we won in the end. I don’t think I have ever seen Mr McColl so happy in his life! Overall we had a blast and had a great time bragging to the Tain technical teacher! We also got a whole bunch of freebies, including salt water powered cars!
– Brooklyn Junor S3
Invergordon Academy 