Athens, Ga. – High school students from Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology swept both grade levels of the 2012 Tests of Engineering, Aptitude, Mathematics and Science competition recently hosted by the University of Georgia.
Under the coaching of Lindsey Stamm, both GSMST teams in the competition won first place in their division. The 9th and 10th grade team competed against Tucker High School. The 11th and 12th grade team competed against Dunwoody High School (2nd), Fernbank Science Center (3rd), Mountain View, Cross Keys, Tucker, Stone Mountain and Miller Grove high schools.
The TEAMS competition features high school students (grades 9-12) who participate in teams of four to eight members and use real-world applications of math and science to solve some of the most current engineering challenges. This year’s challenge focused on “Engineering Healthier Lives.” There were two parts: a 90-minute, 80 multiple choice question session and a 90-minute, open-ended, four-question session.
Alexis Sulyma, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program director for Northrop Grumman, awarded the 2012 Northrop Grumman Scholarship to Mountain View High School. The scholarship provides funds for team registration to the event.
Participating students heard several UGA speakers during the day, including Arthur M. (Andy) Horne, dean of the College Of Education; Dale Threadgill, director of the Faculty of Engineering; Charles Kutal, associate dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences; and Wanda Stitt-Gohdes, a professor and associate head of the COE department of workforce education, leadership and social foundation.
The fourth annual TEAMS competition, this year’s event was held at the Driftmier Engineering Center and was organized by John Mativo, an assistant professor in the COE’s department of workforce education, leadership and social foundations; Chi Thai, an associate professor in biological and agricultural engineering; and Nancy Vandergrift, a program coordinator in the Office of Stem Education. Hope Zimmerman, a teaching assistant in the COE, assisted them.
More than 14,000 students across the country participate annually in TEAMS competitions. Questions are aligned with national education standards. UGA is one of two sites hosting the competition in Georgia. The other site is the Georgia Tech Institute of Technology.
TEAMS competition site sponsors include Northrop Grumman, UGA’s Faculty of Engineering, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Office of STEM Education and the COE’s department of workforce education, leadership and social foundations.
For more information about TEAMS, see http://teams.tsaweb.org/teams/index.html. For more information about the UGA College of Education, see www.coe.uga.edu/. For more information about Northrop Grumman, see www.northropgrumman.com/.