The 2010 Tulsa Engineering Challenger (TECh) was a huge success.  Held Friday, March 26, over 600 students were participating in one or more or the fourteen competitions at the Riverside Campus of Tulsa Technology Center.  The event provided a forum to test Tulsa area youths’ math, science and engineering skills in a fun, hands-on learning environment, and was geared towards students from grades 4 through 12. For 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place results for competitions, click on  link

This was TECh’s twenty second year!   It started at Expo Center many years ago with just a few events.  One of the keys is the support of the engineering societies.  Each society runs an event and covers the cost of the awards when possible.  The past several years, corporate support has been especially helpful.  Hilti, Inc.  and AEP/PSO supplied judges for two favorite events.   And Spirit AeroSystem provided a significant grant this year.  Chriss Chavez, doctoral student in Engineering Communications at OU- Tulsa, was chairman.  Chriss says, “The teachers are the heroes of this event.  They are encouraging their students to step up and explore the fun of designing and building some great devices. It amazes me of the creativity and enthusiasm of the students and their teachers.”  Total prize money awarded was $6560 to 117 teams & individuals.

A special thanks to the following organizations and judges.

The Toothpick Bridge by ASCE with Allen Bates as primary judge.

The Chemical Switch AIChE with Laura Ford and Christi Luks as judges.

The Rubber Band Powered Vehicle by ASME with Jon Liechti as primary judge.  This is a very popular event and they hope to add a second lane for the judging if volunteers are available next year.

The Electric Motor by IEEE with Joe Vitali and Allen Williams as judges.

The Robot by SWE with Judy & Oscar Vera as judges.

The Ping-Pong Ball Launcher by SAME with Chriss Strunk as primary judge and a team of very dedicated volunteers.

The Paper Plane Duration and Distance Competitions by Hilti, Inc and SpiritAerosystem with Tom Haanen as primary judge assisted by Jeff Keener and Al  Folske, recent Spirit AeroSystems retirees.  They can use a couple of extra judges next year.  Over 110 students registered for these two events.

The Wacky Wonder Works by OSPE with Stacy Loeffler as judge with several trusted volunteers.

The Aluminum Boat by OSPE.  Gaylon Pinc headed up a team of judges for the 292 entries. 

The Extreme Engineering Challenge carried through the 2010 theme of “TECh Goes Green for a Cleaner Oklahoma”.  It was sponsored by AEP/PSO with Cayti Burch heading up a great team of volunteers.

The Mini-Math Competition by SME with Dr. Ram Mohan managing the event. Over 190 students took the ten-question test.

The Academic Olympiad, added new last year, is a very popular event.  Steven Johnson, ASCE, stepped up to handle the judging of this event with almost 100 entries.

The Digital Poster Competition, also added last year, and sponsored by OU-Tulsa, was judged by Chriss Chavez.

During the day, a Chemistry Show was offered periodically.  It was sponsored by SWE and TU with Suzanne Dodson and Abigail Wade demonstrating experiments that get the students involved in engineering principles.

Exhibitors included the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, ORU and the American Welding Association.

The TECh planning committee looks forward to the 2011 event as they seek to expand the number of participating schools from 21 to at least 30.