Cars assembled by middle schoolers zipped down the 65-foot elevated track lining the wall in less than a second.
The cars moved so quickly, the engineers often had to ask if their car won the race.
The dragster car competition was just one of several events at the Technology Student Association (TSA) regional competition at Pittsburgh Technical Institute. The organization focuses on bringing technology into classrooms and extending that learning after-school. Nearly 400 high school students attended the first day and 200 middle school students on the second day.
Students had several months to design, draw and produce a working CO2-powered car that fit the specifications and materials.
Before the races, judges measured and approved cars.
Volunteer Dennis DeAngelis retired recently after teaching for 39 years at Ambridge Area High School. While there he was involved in the school’s TSA chapter. He said the dragster event is one of the more popular competitions because students want to race their friends, but it also incorporates all STEM — science, technology, engineering, math — disciplines.
“There’s a math component; there’s a science component with physics; there’s a hands-on activity component with manufacturing. And then of course there’s the transportation activity involved,” DeAngelis said.
Dale Moll, a teacher at Blackhawk High School in Beaver Falls, is also the president-elect for the Pennsylvania TSA Board of Directors. He said not only are the students learning technological skills, they are also gaining professional skills.
“TSA is a professional organization and we try to treat it that way. We run a regular business meeting at every conference, so they’re getting exposed to that. A lot of the events have an interview portion to them where they have to be able to get their concepts down and get their ideas out and be able to express them to other people in an effective manner,” Moll said.
During the judging portion of the competition, Moll said students learn problem solving and how they can improve their design or idea.
“The next step is our state conference and the next step is nationals. Every kid’s goal is to get to nationals for an event. While they’re here, they’re testing their results, they’re getting feedback for their projects and they’re trying to better themselves,” he said.
The Pennsylvania State Conference is scheduled for April 9-12.
