Could you make a working drum machine, using aluminum rods, joiners, screws and bolts? How about a movable stage light system? A method to measure crowd sizes?

• These were some of the challenges tackled by Short Circuit and Boonie Doon Babes in this year’s EPro8 Grand Final. The EPro8 Challenge is a science, math, engineering and problem solving competition. The clock is counting down 2½ hours, the time is filled with agitated chatter from 12 competing teams and bursts of songs played as challenges are completed.

Alex's recollection

After months of training, Short Circuit  faced other school teams in one of four qualifying rounds. They surprised themselves with a second place finish as the competition was stiff. The grand final was held at Holmes Solutions, an engineering workshop, where teams were shown around some incredible ongoing projects before heading to their workstations.

For team Short Circuit, Riley, Christian, Alex and Ryan, kept up a frenetic pace throughout the challenges. In the final 10 minutes, three teams were vying for the trophy. In the last few moments, Short Circuit managed to complete their final task, gaining them 50 points, to become the Canterbury Junior Epro8 Challenge Champions for 2022!