It might not always look like they're listening - but they have been

Monday 17 October 2005

It's easy to criticise young people. Particularly those around that mid-teenage bracket who seem to live in a world of their own and can baffle their parents and teachers with what we think are their peculiar ways of behaving and communicating. We think they are not listening.

However, a large group of high school students from across Australia who will converge on Newcastle this week (Wednesday, 19th October and Thursday, 20th October) for the inaugural Science and Engineering National Grand Challenge, have not only proved that they have been listening in their Science and Maths classes, they can out think most of us.

The tension is building. The long awaited event almost here. The best of the best are shaping up for the challenge.

After a series of Super Challenges held in Newcastle, Melbourne and Toowoomba during August this year, students from schools in the Newcastle and Central Coast regions, Brisbane, Darling Downs, Launceston, Hobart, Geelong, Sydney and Armidale, will come together for two days of intensive brain activity and, most importantly, fun.

The Science and Engineering Challenge is the brainchild of the Faculty of Science and IT and the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment from the University of Newcastle. It's enormous popularity has attracted steady growth in the number of schools participating. With the aim of stimulating interest in scientific and mathematical areas, it has certainly been successful since its inception in 2000.

Director of the Science and Engineering Challenge, Mr Bob Nelson, says the schools are incredibly competitive. He says that because this is the first National Grand Challenge there is a big build up for the schools that are competing.

"Each school has a different way they approach the Challenge. Some are training like a football team would, some nominate students as specialists in strategy, construction and communication, others wait to see how it pans out on the day and think on the run. It's different in every case," Bob says.

"When you see 15 and 16 year olds solving highly complex problems and coming up with solutions to out think and outwit their rivals, you know that the future of maths, science and engineering is on a solid footing," he says.

"The Challenge will not only call on the students' knowledge and problem solving skills, but will bring out the best in them in terms of communication and interpersonal skills as well as a teamwork approach.

"It's a wonderful thing to see the excitement, and the level of commitment and concentration in the teams competing. The other wonderful thing is to see the level of maturity, clarity of thinking and respect for their team members that the competition engenders. These young people are quite amazing," Bob adds.

Wednesday's events (19th October) will constitute the Grand Silver Challenge, while Thursday (20th October) will see the National Grand Challenge take place. Both events will be held at the Honeysuckle Sheds (located on Newcastle Harbour), Merewether Street, Newcastle from 10am to 3pm each day.

The Science and Engineering Challenge has been supported nationally by the Federal Department of Education, Science and Training, Rotary and the Institution of Engineers. The Member for Maitland, Mr Bob Baldwin will represent the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson, at the event.

Some of the topics that will test the finalists at the Grand Silver Challenge and the National Grand Challenge are:
Confounding Communications (fibre optic communications)
Electracity (a game that simulates a regional power grid)
Crypto Cracking Cronies (involving encryption and decryption encoding methods)
Back to the Future (requiring students to design a propeller to move a small training carriage along a track)
The Great Tea Race (requiring a hull to be built and pulled through a tank of water)
Escape from the Lost World (construction of an airship with helium balloons and balsa)
Gold Fever (construction of a bridge)
and the ever-popular Catapult (construction of a miniature version of a catapult) - last year's version of this achieved a range of 70 to 80 metres.

Schools that will be competing in the Grand Challenge (Silver) on Wednesday, 19th October, are:
Gosford High School (Central Coast, NSW)
Launceston Christian School (Launceston, Tas)
St Phillips Christian College (Newcastle, NSW)
St Pius X High School (Newcastle, NSW)
St Virgils College (Hobart, Tas)
Cavendish Road State High School (Brisbane South, Qld)
Clifton State High School (Darling Downs, Qld)
The Armidale School (New England/Tamworth, NSW)

Schools that will be competing in the Grand Challenge (Gold) on Thursday, 20th October, are:
Riverside High School (Launceston, Tas)
James Ruse Agricultural High School (Carlingford, NSW)
St Peters Claver College (Darling Downs, Qld)
St Mary's High School (Newcastle, NSW)
Warners Bay High School (Newcastle, NSW)
Kelvin Grove State School (Brisbane North, Qld)
Oberon High School (Geelong, Vic)
Fraser Coast Anglican College (Darling Downs, Qld)