On Friday, the Brazos County Expo Complex in Bryan will host build/design-themed events open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. These events will showcase students’ creativity and problem-solving skills as they compete in various science, engineering, and technology challenges.
On Saturday, the Texas A&M campus will host laboratory and knowledge-based competitions, which are restricted to participants only. Students will compete in various events such as building the lightest and tallest towers that can withstand a heavy load, constructing gliders, designing efficient boom and battery-powered cars, launching indoor bottle rockets, detecting diseases, and discerning potions and poisons.
Over the two days of competition, nearly 200 Texas A&M and Blinn College faculty, staff, and students along with local coordinators from the Brazos Valley will be present to set up and judge the 56 events of the competition. Additionally, organizers and judges from NASA as well as business and industrial representatives from Houston and Austin communities are volunteering their expertise to ensure a successful event.
The competition aims to improve the quality of science education in schools by testing students’ knowledge through problem-solving skills and teamwork. Each competing school can enter one team of 15 students in either Division B (grades 6-9) or Division C (grades 9-12). The competition is rigorous academic contest that covers a variety of science topics aiming to develop young scientists who can excel in future careers related to this field.