Hundreds of students compete in Iowa Science Olympiad

CEDAR RAPIDS - More than 300 high school and middle school students converged on Coe College on Saturday, launching bottle rockets, flying homemade helicopters and operating robots.

But although it likely sounds like a day of fun to some, it's a serious competition for these budding Iowa engineers, scientists and mathematicians.

The students traveled to the Cedar Rapids campus from 18 schools across the state in order to compete in the 2012 Iowa Science Olympiad, and possibly secure a spot in May's national competition.

In Coe College's Eby Gymnasium, dozens of competitors, judges and onlookers watched competitions with names like Robot Arm, Gravity Vehicle and The Mission is Possible. Participants wore brightly colored team shirts with creative slogans such as “DeoxyriboNERDeic Acid - it's in our DNA.”

Brothers Daniel and James Talbert, members of the Marshalltown High School “Science Cats”, competed in the Robot Arm building competition.

Daniel, a 17-year-old junior, and James, a 14-year-old freshman, said they built the robotic arm over the course of several months. On Saturday, those months of preparation came down to just a few timed minutes in which they guided the robotic arm to pick up various small objects on a platform and move them.

“It's fun. I like building stuff, figuring out how it works, and getting stuff to work. And if it doesn't work, figuring out why,” James said of his involvement with Science Olympiad since junior high school.

Daniel, who wants to study mechanical engineering in college, said the competition gives him a sense of what he might be doing in the future.

“It gives you a feel if it's really what you want to do,” he said.

One of the non-profit Science Olympiad's goals is to increase male, female and minority youth interest in science.

Caitlin Andersen, a University of Iowa junior, member of the Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity, and volunteer judge for Saturday's competition agreed that increasing young women's interest in science and math fields is important.

“I think women approach problems differently and have a different mindset,” the engineering major said.

“ ... It's just the diversity.”

Ryan Posluszny, also a UI junior and volunteer judge, said reaching youth in general is crucial.

“[This competition] reaches the younger crowd,” he said. “We need people to be interested in science and math in the future. That's how the world is going to run.”

Posluszny and Andersen were among 17 UI faculty and students serving as coaches, mentors and state event supervisors.

As the afternoon wore on, groups around the gym either erupted in bursts of applause and high fives or somber, consoling hugs.

Posluszny said witnessing the students' dedication to the competition was one of the best aspects of judging.

“[I enjoy] seeing the kids really excited and really into it,” he said. “It's not for class or for extra credit, they want to win. It's really cool to see that.”