WB students win Mars Rover design contest

A group of West Branch Middle School students spent much of the school year in a competition to create a Mars Rover.

The seventh grade STEM students joined the Invent2Make Mars Rover Competition, which is part of the Invent2Make program based in Mahoning County.

One West Branch group, Team Survivor, won the middle school division and also took first in the high school division. The victory earned West Branch Local School District’s STEM program a 3D trophy printer to use next school year.

Members of Team Survivor were Laine Muhleman, Jacob Hardy, Cashous Eilola, Zoe Carreon, Lucas Herold, Ava Knipp and Alec O’Hara.

To qualify for the championship round, held May 12, West Branch scored among the top three teams in qualifying contests in January and April.

Invent2Make’s "Gaining Traction on Mars Project" provided students with Mars Rovers kits to build and test on a simulated Mars surface. Students used the tests to design and optimize new wheels and gears for their Rovers.

“This project explores Mars, its history, conditions, surface, and why Mars exploration is important,” explains Angeline Theis, director of instructional programming for West Branch Local Schools. “Students study wheel design, ratios, and gears, and use this knowledge to evaluate velocity and torque impact on performance. With initial performance data, they design wheels and gears to optimize performance.”

This competition also allowed students to learn more about previous missions to Mars, and NASA’s current missions, along with lessons about NASA’s plans to sending humans to Mars.

“As a district, we continue to develop and expand our STEM offerings because STEM fields are significant forces of innovation and development in our community, state, and nation,” said Theis.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: West Branch students win Mars Rover design contest