“WHERE’S THE POSTER??!!!!!” shouted Daniel Yao for the fifth time today. It was the last day of TEAM+S Nationals, or Tests in Engineering Aptitude, Math and Science, a STEM competition sponsored by Technology Student Association. These outbursts were becoming an overused inside joke by now, but we still laughed at its absurdity because we had completed our Poster Presentation the day before. The TEAM+S National Conference consists of three portions: a written essay over a given prompt that is submitted before the conference, a prepared presentation given during the conference, and a problem solving portion consisting of a design challenge with engineering questions. Teams are comprised of 8 people, our team consisting of Angela Zhu, Daniel Yao, Grace Lu, Howie Chen, Jake Crampton, John Nguyen, Michael Lee, and myself as captain. Although we would not end up placing in the national competition, I can say that it was a rewarding experience to work with my peers and coach to try and solve scenarios of the problems contemporary engineers face.
The national conference was held in Nashville, Tennessee this summer from June 28 to July 2 at Gaylord Opryland Conference Center, a monstrous multi-story mansion-of-a-hotel, much like an adult Disney world, that featured an indoor arboretum themed with animal-shaped plants from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. The day before we had navigated to the Hermitage conference rooms to present our poster, which detailed three technologies that we deemed were essential to early space development. These technologies included the investment in hypersonic aircrafts and space hubs, asteroid mining for construction materials, as well as space living quarters modeled from NASA’s Biosphere II. Today we would participate in a design challenge that would require us to create a mirror that could focus light onto a camera and answer physics questions related to optics.
The design challenge proved to be a hectic, haphazard, and stimulating affair in the best sense. The objective, we quickly realized, was to maximize reflective surface area while creating a structure that maintained the correct angle of reflection to reach the camera. We observed other teams that cut out an entire section of poster, plastered it with the aluminum foil provided, and then proceeded to achieve exorbitant scores during test runs. The only problem was fitting the structure into the regulation size tube. We ended up settling for a concave, curved structure that would achieve parabolic light reflections, complete with a stand that allowed the structure to rest at a 20 degree angle from the vertical. Our score was above average, and our structure ended up fitting in the tube.
The one setback of OSSM TEAM+S is the fact that as a team, we cannot meet up physically because our homes are spread out across the state of Oklahoma. Distance proves logistics and accountability are that much harder to ensure for good discussion, planning, and execution of the final product. Added to this is of course the day-to-day brunt of schoolwork and stress during the academic school year. However, in the three days that we competed, and spent together as a group, there was a dynamic that was inexpressible through efforts of communication while we were in preparation.
What better way to capture that spirit of team bonding than from OSSM’s TEAM+S members themselves. Here are their reflections:
"I heard Bakersfield Nashville is a really good Mexican restaurant.” — Daniel Yao
"While we all worked hard and ultimately were able to come together as a serious team to conquer state and nationals, it was definitely a time where we weren't as prepared as we could've and/or should've been. Hopefully now that we know what exactly the competition calls for to become a serious challenger, we will be able to pass that knowledge to our upcoming juniors and prepare them for what lies ahead.” — Angela Zhu
"Expectation: I thought I’d be building a bunch of stuff. Reality: Dimensional Analysis is a thing.” — Grace Lu
"You look so perturbed." (At Maggie Zhang) — Grace Lu
"$30 for 6 pieces of sushi…worth.” — Howie Chen
"We got dunked.” — Jake Crampton
“The state round has no correlation to the national round, so really all you need to do is be familiar with the style of the questions. I recommend doing a few sets the week before and dividing up who will do which set of questions on game day. Prepare well for the essay because you can actually prepare for it, but the design challenge can't be predicted.
Fair warning, if you want to win nats, you will need to be extremely lucky and extremely well prepared. If you want to go, ask me for tips, but know that it is really subjective and no matter how well you do, you can't be guaranteed to get close.” — Jake Crampton
"Oh so a sofa bed is like a normal bed except you pull out?” — John Nguyen
"It was really cool to see the our projects come together from the contributions of each individual team member. Furthermore, I liked the national problem solving portion of the competition because it imposed a time limit and really forced us to work together effectively. But more importantly, I loved how the whole team got to hang out together, talk, and bond. I got to know everyone so much than I did before. I definitely enjoyed the whole TEAM+S experience, and I'm happy that you guys offered me a spot as a substitute member. I regret that I didn't actually try out for the state level TEAM+S competition, but you can bet that I will next year. And finally, WHERE’S THE POSTER????!!!!!!” — Daniel Yao
"The thing I enjoyed most about TEAM+S was solving physics problems and doing research on my own time over the technological innovations and natural phenomena. Juniors should be prepared to practice problem solving by themselves with no assistance from others. It requires a lot of self-motivation, but I felt that I learned a lot.” — John Nguyen
“TEAM+S was a great experience, both academically, socially and food. 10/10 would recommend.” — Michael Lee