Science and engineering skills remain on display at Clinton Community Schools

CLINTON — High school students from Clinton Community Schools continue to showcase their prowess when it comes to putting their science and engineering skills to the test.

During the months of May and June, select groups of high school students represented the Clinton district at both state and international engineering competitions, including the 2024 International Underwater Robotics Competition held June 1, and hosted by the University of Maryland.

Three Clinton teams competed at this event, and all three performed “extremely well” in a field of teams from across the country and worldwide, a news release from Clinton Community Schools said, including 174 teams from 32 states and six countries.

“Few schools enjoyed the broad success Clinton teams achieved in an impressive all-around performance across multiple events and classes,” the Clinton release said. “This year marked the first time a team from Clinton won a trophy for placing in the top three of a pool event.”

Team Dandruff — made up of Clinton students Jacob Pizio, Cole Hillegonds and Broden Manchester — brought home a third-place trophy for the Obstacle Pool Course, which involved driving their remotely operated vehicle (ROV) through five underwater hoops at varying heights and angles. The team placed 24th and 15th in both the Mission course and the Tech Report course, respectively, for an overall placement of eighth out of 75 teams.

The SeaPerch Challenge, part of the Underwater Robotics Competition, consists of a Technical Design Report and Pool Course challenges including a Hoops Obstacle Course and a Mission Challenge. Teams were provided a kit of materials including PVC, an electric controller with a tether to the unit, flotation devices, three motors with waterproof cases and other miscellaneous items.

“Teams designed the ROV to travel quickly and skillfully through a series of underwater hoops at varying angles, as well as transport rope rings attached to PVC rods and PVC cubes to a platform where points could be earned by placing them on stations of increasing degrees of difficulty,” the release said. “The Technical Design Report documented the process of design, testing, evaluating and repeating the process until arriving at the final product.”

Students Jaren Settles, Robert McDonald, Brian Ferree and Nicko DeVitto made up the CHS OceanPerch team, which placed 11th out of 28 total teams, and finished 10th, 18th and ninth, respectively, in the Obstacle, Mission and Tech Report challenges.

Clinton Middle School was able to field a team at the international competition with Grant Kutzley, Gradyn Whelan and Jaxon Philip qualifying to compete at the event by winning their respective classes at the Michigan Regional SeaPerch Challenge in March. The middle school team named Team Drop Off finished ninth out of 71 teams, placing seventh, 34th and 10th in the Obstacle, Mission and Tech Report courses.

It was the second consecutive year a team from the middle school, under the guidance of teacher Mike Krauss, placed in the top 10 in two of the three events, the district said.

“All three teams dealt with mechanical failure and used troubleshooting and experience to make changes to improve the seaworthiness of their robots,” the release said. “The two high school teams were also chosen to present their experiences and the engineering process of designing their underwater robots. This is the sixth year in which Clinton Community Schools has qualified teams for the International Challenge.”

Teams earn first and third place in Michigan Design Prize Competition

Clinton High School STEM teams earned two of the three finalist spots for the high school division and ended the evening with gold and bronze awards during the Michigan Design Prize competition offered by the Michigan Design Council.

Hillegonds, a freshman, won the gold medal for his design of the Fleener, a portable foot washing and drying machine a person could take with them to the beach.

Junior Aubrey Lauer and senior Anna Schaffner won the bronze medal for Backbrella, their design of a hands-free umbrella worn like a backpack to assist those with limitations.

The Michigan Design Prize, which was held in downtown Detroit at the Taubman Center for Design Education, is an annual competition celebrating and developing Michigan industrial design talent. Kindergarten through 12th grade students from across the state are invited to tackle a singular design challenge linked to Michigan and larger societal issues as actual designers solving an authentic problem, an additional news release from Clinton schools said.

This year’s challenge was to design a physical product that improves access and mobility for visitors of all types to any of Michigan’s five National Parks.

“Concepts should help users explore the National Parks in fun, safe and exciting new ways that look at any of the challenges that exist for visitors of these parks,” the release said.

Once selected as finalists, the two Clinton teams were paired with professional industrial designers who helped bring the student ideas and sketches to life in a full-size presentation banner.

Top placements earned at SAE Micro-Electric Car competition

In May, STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — and AP Physics students from Clinton High School traveled to Yazaki North America Inc. in Canton to participate in the 27th annual Micro-Electric Car competition organized by the Detroit Section of Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

Clinton students won second place overall for schools, earning a $1,500 prize.

The team composed of McDonald and Boston Lawler earned fourth place in the non-capacitor class race and second in the Design Paper, garnering a prize of $100. Settles earned a second-place finish in the non-capacitor class race, winning $150. The two teams’ combined results led to CHS earning second place Overall Schools finish.

Students from AP Physics C Mechanics and STEM classes used engineering and physics principles to design and build the cars in class and the top cars moved on to the competition, a third news release from Clinton Community Schools said.

The contest consisted of a design competition and a performance competition. The performance competition involved building a car that was powered by one AA battery and could pull a load eight feet up a 25-degree ramp, and then another four feet to the finish line, the release detailed. Two classes of cars were involved; a stock class and a capacitor and electronics class.

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The design competition involved writing a one-page paper that explained the component selection, design methodology and any special or aesthetic characteristics of the car.

The event was sponsored by Yazaki and Denso. Yazaki is a global leader in the research, development and delivery of vehicle power and data solutions. Denso is the world’s No. 2 parts supplier to the automotive industry.

— Contact reporter Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: twitter.com/LenaweeHeineman.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Clinton students showcase science, engineering skills at competitions