Gallery • 10 Photos

By Ally Nguyen

Engineering teacher Gayle Kebodeaux talks with seniors Kyle Bonsetter, Jonas McLeod and Jarod Griggs as they set up their presentations.

Students in the Engineering Design and Development class competed at the Project Lead the Way and Engineering Design and Development Senior Showcase on Wednesday, April 25 at Union Station. Two hundred nine teams competed at the event, which featured students from 41 schools.

Students in the Engineering Design and Development class work on the project for the entire school year leading up to the event. This process includes creating a problem to solve, designing the product, making and testing a prototype, consulting experts in the field and redesigning the product after prototype testing.

Four of the nine teams placed in the top 10. Those students who placed in the top 10 by team are seniors Christine Lust and Desola Omoniyi, who placed second; Cody Robertson, Landon Butler, Amanda Hertel and Ethan Jacobs; Zachary King, Gage Weber and Nicholas Schappaugh; and Chris Greenfield.

Robertson was happy to see his groups culminated effort throughout the year pay off at the showcase.

“[We] worked really hard to get there,” Robertson said. “Seeing all our hard work be rewarded was really valuable.”

Through doing the projects, students are able to understand the process that engineers go through as well as meet many people that work in the engineering field, according to engineering teacher Gayle Kebodeaux.

“The networking [is beneficial],” Kebodeaux said. “Going through … the engineering design and development path, you see what it takes [to be an engineer] and how it goes.”

According to Robertson, creating his group’s project, a salivary pH diagnostic, was an overall good experience.

“It required a lot of independence and problem-solving,” Robertson said. “It was a great cooperative experience.”

Senior Zoltan Gothard believes that the program had great success at the event.

“The engineering program at the school did great,” Gothard said. “It couldn’t have gone so smoothly without Kebodeaux’s help.”