J.E.T.S. Blast Off to Second Place Finish

Oh the weather outside was frightful, but the competition was delightful for La Porte High School at the annual Junior Engineering Technical Society competition. On March 5, 10 LPHS students and their sponsor, teacher Brent VanHook, piled into a bus, braced the coming snow storm and traveled to Purdue Calumet for the academic engineering competition.

“The weather was intimidating but we were not about to let that get in our way,” team member Alex Nelson said.

La Porte High School sent two teams, a ninth and 10th grade team and 11th- and 12th grade team, to compete. The teams had to work together on a test lasting roughly four hours. The test is designed to make the students think, work as a team and introduce what being an engineer is all about.

“Since I plan on being a famous engineer someday, this competition is extremely helpful. It allows me to see the potential problems I will face as an engineer,” team member Justin Mazany said.

Each year the test has a specific topic. This year’s topic was cyber engineering. Students were challenged to read different scenarios and answer questions concerning hacking, software, phishing, spyware, etc.

“The test is certainly challenging. I was not at first familiar with cyber information, but after reading material and thinking, I have a stronger understanding of the topic,” added team member Kayla Dunbar.

After completing the test, engineering students at Purdue Calumet hosted tours of the school’s engineering facilities. Teams were able to chat with engineering students, see current engineering projects and take a seat in the interactive visualization lab.

Students were then treated to a marvelous, warm lunch and inspiring speeches from students and professors. The motif repeated throughout the speeches was the modern necessity of engineering.

Finally, the long wait was over and the winners announced. The La Porte High School 9th and 10th grade team took home second place and a trophy.

“It feels awesome to win second place! I am happy we beat Munster; they are always a challenging team,” Sarah Moore said.

Team members were Moore, Julia Jongkind, Michael Varda, Austin Bohlin and Sam Jackson. After celebrating, the team headed back home and recounted their efforts while eating some Dairy Queen ice cream treats.

“It is great to win. We had a very intelligent team, and it was a great team effort. We feel very proud,” Michael Varda said.