Young Scientists, Engineers Test Their Creativity at UNC Asheville Competitions in February

Science competitions take center stage at UNC Asheville, with special events on February 17 and 20.

On Saturday, Feb.17, students from 11 middle schools in Western North Carolina will try their talents in the regional Science Olympiad Tournament. Each school can field a team of 15 students in 24 events, ranging from bottle rockets and buggy car races to geography and metrics puzzles. Among the day's highlights will be the egg drop from the Rhodes-Robinson breezeway, where student will built and test containers designed to protect eggs in a two-story fall.

Competing schools are North Buncombe, Erwin, A.C. Reynolds and Owen middle schools, Buncombe County; Harris Middle School, Mitchell County; Chase Middle School and Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, Rutherford County; Martins Creek Elementary, Cherokee County; and Tryon and Polk Central middle schools, Polk County. The Olympiad will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at several campus locations. The winners of the regional tournament will move on to the statewide tournament later this year.

The Olympiad will be staffed by a number of volunteers, including 50 UNCA faculty, staff and students, as well as volunteers from the Health Adventure, the WNC Nature Center, the Colburn Gem and Mineral Museum, SUD Associates Consulting Engineers, MAHEC, USC-Sumpter and Isaac Dickson Elementary School.

On Tuesday, Feb. 20, WNC high school and college students will try their hand at an engineering design competition co-sponsored by UNCA and N.C. State University's Engineering Programs. High school juniors and seniors will compete in creative approaches to bridge building; high school sophomores and juniors will demonstrate their skills at designing marshmallow catapults; and UNCA's mechatronics students will unleash their robotic creations.

Judges will be looking at inventive, successful approaches in all three events. Volunteers from the Professional Engineers of North Carolina Society will provide design insights and discussion.

Teams of two to four students are coming from Robbinsville and A.C. Reynolds high schools, Carolina Day School, Fletcher Academy, and West Caldwell and Hiwassee Dam high schools. Four teams from UNCA have entered the robotics competition. Events begin at 1 p.m. in Owen Conference Center, with check-in at noon.  

For more information about the Science Olympiad, call Judy Beck, UNCA Physics Department, at 232-5036.  For more information about the engineering design competition, call Cheryl Alderman, NSCU Engineering Programs at UNCA, 251-6640.

Media Contact:

• Merianne Epstein, Public Information Director, 828/251-6676 or beeper 257-5501