2023’s STEM Challenge was filled with over 700 students from high schools and universities, putting their best foot forward in the fields of science, technology, engineering, maths, and computing in a bid to win several prizes.
The first round was a written quiz attempted individually to test their theoretical knowledge. This was followed by the teams coming together in a practical round to build a structure made of spaghetti and marshmallows, meant to be strong enough to sustain certain levels of weight.
The next round was another practical one but of a higher difficulty level. Teams were required to build cars made of mouse traps and CDs. These were then tested to see how far they would run with the teams cheering each other on. We then moved to a head-to-head quiz to eliminate teams and leave the last standing top three. The Top 3 teams battled for the winning trophy in a game of Jeopardy.
The winning team for the high school edition is Team GMA from GEMS Modern Academy, with the 1st runner-up being Team Lagrange>Newton from Our Own Indian School and the 2nd runner-up being Team Brainstormers from Deira International School. The winning team for the university edition is team Quantum Quartets from Amity University Dubai, with the 1st runner up being team Chromis from the American University of Ras Al Khaimah and the 2nd runner-up being team Psi-phi Nerds from Khalifa University of Science and Technology.
All winning teams received trophies, medals, certificates and scholarship letters, and their mentors received small tokens of appreciation.
The annual event takes place to give students an avenue where they can compete while putting their problem-solving skills to use while practising teamwork.
Curtin is gearing up for STEM Challenge 2024. Click here to learn more and register.
