Paperclip and Straw Tower Results

     Yesterday was the day everyone was waiting for; Judging Day.  I got the honor of judging the whole competition. As soon as the students arrived to the club after school, they were given approximately a half hour to add their final touches to their towers.

      The judging began precisely at three. There were five towers that made it to judging, however our vice-president Scott built one which was the tallest, but he did not want to be counted in the judging race. Scott's tower measured 94 inches which is the equivalent to 7 feet, 10 inches. While judging, I had to find the tallest tower as well as the most interesting tower. I looked for three things: height, efficiency, and which would be easiest to build in real life. We had a tie for third place which went to both team "Sam" and team "Ligers" for both building square shaped towers that measured 2 feet tall. Our second place tower went to team "America" who had a very simple tower that measured 83 inches or 6 feet 11 inches. And finally, our first place tower went to the freshman team "42" for building a tower  that measured 84 inches or 7 feet exactly. It was a very close race! Additionally, we had one more award. The final award went to the most creative and efficient tower. Team "America's" tower was not the tallest, but the most efficient and would be easiest to build in real life. Our first place team and most efficient tower team each received certificates as well as a box of Mallomars. Congratulations to all of the participants and great work everyone! Below are pictures of the judging and results.

     Thank you for reading! Hope you can use this post as inspiration for ideas and fun in your own school or club!

~Ashley 

Paperclip and Straw Towers!

     The Future Engineers Club at Commack High School is certainly starting to become very popular! Last week, our vice-president, Scott, came up with a fun, exciting contest for everyone to participate in. The idea of the contest was to build a tower made of only paperclips and straws. The winner of the contest would be the group who made the tallest tower. However, there would be a prize given to the most creative tower as well. 

     To begin the contest, the club members got into small groups. Each group came up with a very creative name. Additionally, each group got to come up with a design for their tower to make it as strong, tall, and as interesting as possible. Here are some pics of the groups over the past two weeks working together to make their towers:

     Next week our vice-president will be judging the completed towers to determine the winner! Want to know who won? Well stay tuned and look back next week to see the winners!

~Ashley

Stony Brook's Fun With Engineering Day

On January 10, 2012, twenty-one Commack High School girls took a field trip to Stony Brook University to make many new discoveries about their futures in engineering. The girls got to participate in the WISE program (Women in Science Engineering) during “Fun with Engineering Day” at the school. The students that were selected to go on the trip all had various skills and interests in science engineering as well as many others. Assisting the girls on the trip was Mr. Castrogivanni alongside his wife, Mrs. Castrogivanni. Being that they are both alumni of Stony Brook, they were both so excited to revisit their past as well as see how things have changed.

The day started off with a delicious breakfast as well as welcoming and opening remarks from the staff. Shortly after, it progressed into moving into groups to take a tour of the campus as well as some of the labs. The group tours were a great time to look at the campus as well as meet girls from other schools. The different tours consisted of Biomedical Engineering, Energy Harvesting, Rapid Prototyping, Biofuels, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Atomic Force Microscopes and Confocal Microscope Lasers, as well as Thermal Spray (Jet Engines).

After returning back from the tours, we got to eat lunch while the staff and professionals inquired any specific questions we had. This was a valuable part of the field trip because it answered any questions girls had about their futures involving engineering. The experience all the staff members have was a great guide to how and what we should pursue in our future.

Last came my personal favorite part of the trip, the building. The first project we got to work on was called a BristleBot. The materials used to make the BristleBot were two toothbrushes, a lithium coin battery, one vibrational motor, as well as tape. By breaking off the tip of both the two brushes and connecting them, the battery and motor had a usable service to rest on. After properly connecting the two together, the BristleBot would vibrate and move! Some moved in random ways while others traveled in circles. The second object we got to construct was a Balloon Powered Car. With the use of a foam tray, straws, a cup, and some tape, you were able to build an awesome balloon-powered car. After constructing the car, by filling the balloon with air, your car was able to travel far distances across flat surfaces. To complete the day, we got to end it with a Balloon Powered Car race. The objective was to see whose car could travel the furthest. One of the winners was Shir from Commack.

Overall, the WISE experience was an unforgettable experience. Not only was it a great time to meet new people, but a fun way to learn about engineering as well as your future. I hope the Fun with Engineering field trip continues in the future and that more and more schools find out about the trip and attend! Check out the videos of the BristleBots and the Balloon Powered Car race below!

~Ashley 

Holidays Already?

Hello Future Engineers! I know that as a result of Hurricane Sandy and such it has been a while since we have been on track and back to normal. I hope everyone is continuing to come up with project ideas as us officers are discussing basket ideas for the baskets that are being given away. Now with the holidays coming up, what's  better than BUILDING a gift to give to someone?! Hope everyone is doing well and coming up with some great project ideas for the holidays! See you at next week's meeting!

~Ashley

Halloween Happening 2012!

Well Guys,

We survived the Halloween Happening yet again! What with the table in the Cafeteria and the Skeleton in the Haunted House, no wonder things went so well...well, we may have had a few malfunctions here and there, but that's not to say we didnt enjoy ourselves, right?
The table in the Cafeteria looked amazing. Anthony's magic mirror (A.K.A. Klaus) and its little drawer of candy and erasers, and Matt's Porthole with the polarized film...very cool indeed. As well as the light-up Halloween figures hanging around our station, these were all immensly successful.

As for the Skeleton in the Haunted House, the word from Mrs. Adamo was that it was a job well done not only to those who helped create it, but those who controlled it behind the scenes. But let's just say this: Gravity is not a friend to that Skeleton.

I'd also like to thank everyone who came to help out and support the club, including those who already graduated from Commack High School (Troy Pomerantz and Former Presidents Chris Faraci and Vincent Chiechi).

Hope to see everyone at the next meeting, and have a happy Halloween!

-Aiko

Success!

     Hey everyone! I just wanted to thank all of you for working so cooperatively at today's club meeting. I know a lot of you are beginners, and I think everyone is very impressed by how much you have learned and how interested you guys are already. This year had been off to such a great start! The club will definitely do AMAZING the rest of the year! Some of the ideas all of you have come up with for the Halloween Happening are great ones! It's great to also see so many of you taking part in these projects. Keep up the good work! See you next Thursday!

~ Ashley

Good Luck Guys

Hello everyone, this is former president for the Future Engineers Club Vincent Chiechi. Even though I've moved on to college and started working and studying to become an engineer myself, I will still be popping in occasionally to see whats going on and use my experiences here to help those in the club. I've got to say that so far the club has really helped me out a lot in my studies and understanding of engineering and that I really hope other students in the club will get as much out of it as I did.

I want to wish everyone the best this school year and hope that they are determined to make this a great and memorable year for the Future Engineers. I know you guys are dedicated to everything you do and not everyone see how much work you put into the things you do. Keep up the good work and don't let anyone tell you that you can't do anything because when you put your minds to it and work together, you can do anything.

-Vincent Chiechi