On Thursday 18 May a team of 29 students of Shalom’s best and brightest participated in the Science and Engineering Challenge held at the Bundaberg PCYC. The Science and Engineering Challenge is a day-long competition designed to provide Year 9 and 10 students with a positive experience of Science and Engineering.

Each school provides 8 teams of 3 or 4 students. Each team is assigned a challenge in which they must design, build and test something in order to solve a problem. There are 8 possible challenges including designing, building and testing a balsa wood plane, Mars rover, earthquake-proof tower and bridge.

Shalom students showed some exceptional enthusiasm in these challenges displaying excellent problem-solving skills and teamwork to comprehensively win the Challenge on the day. The score of 1430 out of a possible 1600 was a particularly high score and testament to the consistency across the teams. Performances across all groups were all fantastic, however, special mention goes to the groups who won their challenges on the day.

The Pink team of Hannah P, Ava M, Lucy W and Sophie W, the Yellow team of Landa A, Chase S and George S and the Green group of Jacob N, Freddie C and Jack G won both their challenges on the day – an outstanding effort. Additionally, the Red team of Callum M, Jack M, Trey H and Francis B were impressive in winning the Confounding Communications Challenge.

The prestigious Bridge Challenge was also won by Shalom, taken out by the Silver team of Ethan M, Michael C, Kodee P and Maxwell C. This challenge takes place at the end of the day with all groups watching, however the boys were undaunted by the extra pressure, with the bridge only being able to be broken by the intimidating ‘Bridge-Buster’. No group finished lower than fourth in the entire day – truly remarkable. It is hoped that Shalom will now qualify for the State Finals for the S&E Challenge which would be a very fun event.

The 2023 Science & Engineering Challenge Winners

Once again, our students participated in the great spirit that Shalom is known for and the day was enjoyed by all who attended.

For more photos from the day, click HERE to view them

Mr Brendan Maher & Mrs Debbie Bishop
Shalom Competition Coordinators
maherb@shalomcollege.com 
bishopD@shalomcollege.com