The Barstow Engineering Design & Robotics Class class was extremely successful at the KU Design Engineering Competition. Barstow students spent weeks creating and perfecting their projects for the challenges. Their hard work paid off, and they were able to place in many different categories; most won some scholarships.
“At the competition, there are six categories, and Barstow placed first in civil and chemical engineering, and third in mechanical and aerospace,” said Gavin Wood, the Middle and Upper School STEAM director.
The University of Kansas hosts an annual High School Design competition that tests technical understanding, abilities, and teamwork. The competition was on October 20, and Barstow competed against 44 schools from both Missouri and Kansas.
On top of creating and building a project that solves a problem, teams also had to make presentations. The competition had them show the presentation and had their projects compete with others to see which solution to the given problem was the best.
“It was fun. We gave our presentations and demonstrated our project, then we got a tour of the engineering department. Afterward, we got to walk around and see the campus. Then, they announced awards and we went home,” said sophomore Jack Cuezze (‘24) about the event.
Barstow competed in the aerospace, civil, mechanical, bioengineering, and chemical engineering competitions. The aerospace challenge was to create a vehicle that can cover the most distance in the longest amount of time and distance away from the target. The civil engineering challenge was to create a sustainable building that would work to reverse climate change.
For mechanical engineering, participants had to create a catapult that could accurately launch a small ball using a source of potential energy. Bioengineering created a cost-effective, artificial aortic heart valve. The chemical engineering challenge was to design a filtration system to improve the Kansas River water to drinking standards.
KU gives out a total of $12,000 to event winners. Margo Gonzales (‘25), Amelia Beagle (‘25), Daniel John (‘24), William Keidel (‘25), and Pierce Farinelli (‘24) won $2,000 in scholarships. Anders Hwang (‘23), Turner Andrews (‘23), Stewart Kennedy-Gregg (‘22), and Harly Chang (‘22) also placed third and won awards.
The first place winners, Gonzales (‘25) and Beagle (‘25), created a multi-level water purifying system for Kansas river water in the chemical engineering category. John (‘24), Keidel (‘24), and Farinelli (‘24) won first place in the civil engineering category with a sustainable building model that maxed out at 300+ pounds.
In aerospace engineering, Hwang (‘23) and Andrews (‘23) won third place with an aircraft design and flight. Kennedy-Gregg (‘22) and Chang (‘22) won third place in the mechanical engineering category with their catapult design and launch. Kennedy-Gregg (‘22) and Chang (‘22) competed for accuracy while Hwang (‘23) and Andrews (‘23) competed for accuracy and distance.
“In engineering, failure is always an option, but today Barstow students showed that success is an option, too.” said Mr. Wood.
