Thirteen teams from eight mid-state high schools met Feb. 26 at Vanderbilt University’s Engineering School to participate in a Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) program – TEAMS – that challenged students to examine the engineering involved in providing safe water to everyone.
The 2010 event drew the largest response to date and included teams from as far away as Chattanooga, Houston County, and Bowling Green, Ky.
TEAMS competition features actual scenarios to help students make the real-world connection between math and science to engineering. The 2010 theme is Water, Water, Everywhere.
Overall winners at the 11-12 grade level are:
First Place: Montgomery Bell Academy (Davidson County)
Second Place: Franklin High School (Williamson County)
Third Place: Brentwood High School (Williamson County)
Overall winners at the 9-10 grade level are:
First Place: Harpeth Hall School (Davidson County)
Second Place: Brentwood High School (Williamson County)
TEAMS 2010 takes place between February 15 and March 16.
The annual academic competition is open to students in grades 9-12. Students can be from high schools—public, private, home schools—youth groups or clubs and organizations.
Competition hosts are generally universities. The Engineering School’s K-12 Outreach Program was host in middle Tennessee.
The day-long event at Vanderbilt offered testing in two parts:
- Part 1 consists of eight questions, each focused on a different engineering scenario with 10 sub-questions for a total of 80 multiple-choice questions.
- Part 2 is comprised of four open-ended questions. Each of the questions posed are extensions of four questions found in Part 1.
Part 1 score is determined the day of the competition. Part 2 scores will be released by JETS to those teams who become National Finalists. National Finalists are typically announced near the end of March once all teams have competed.
Other activities Feb. 26 included a campus tour, luncheon, Vanderbilt engineering students’ panel, and awards presentation.