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EPro8 Semi and Grand Final

TGC —

On Wednesday 29 June the Year 9-10 Bay of Plenty & Waikato Semi-Finals for the EPro8 Challenge were held at the University of Waikato in Hamilton. Our team of Year 9 students, The Turtles, were one of twelve teams from schools across the BOP and Waikato regions. We are very proud of this team for making it to the semis as most of these students had no prior experience in EPro8. A huge well done to Ella Ensor, Alize Ball, Steph McEachen and Savanna Singh for putting in a solid effort, problem solving and having lots of fun. The team didn’t place, however we’ve learnt a few different engineering skills, improved communication skills and have started talking about how the team will do better next year.

Thursday 30 June saw the return of the 2021 reigning champions at the Senior Bay of Plenty & Waikato Semi-Finals EPro8 Challenge which was also held at the University of Waikato in Hamilton. The Crazy Smart Asians have spent months preparing and strategising for this moment and they certainly delivered an outstanding performance of high energy, frantic communication, leadership and exceptional problem solving skills and resilience. The twelve teams from the BOP and Waikato regions worked through four difficult challenges including a robotic drum set, motorized lighting system and an electronic drum set. It was a fierce competition with four teams from St Peters College, AGC Tauranga and Katikati College fighting for first place over the 2.5 hours. Our team, The Crazy Smart Asians, held first or second for most of the competition but dropped to 4th in the last 10 minutes, and with a nail-biting race to the finish buzzer our team managed to complete their final challenge and come out first equal! However, there was only one trophy for first place, so a sudden death face off commenced where the two first place teams had to build the tallest possible tower in 4 minutes. Our team created a super tall structure however, they ran out of time to secure the base and graciously lost to the St Peter's College team.

We are incredibly proud of both teams, who worked so hard prior to the competition and on the night.

The EPro8 Challenge is an inter-school science and engineering competition. Every year over 25,000 students from throughout New Zealand take part. Students participate in a series of events designed to promote science, mathematics and engineering, and develop problem solving abilities, critical thinking, communication skills and the ability to work under pressure.

Thank you to our amazing sponsors - Kirk Roberts Engineering, Stratum Consultants and Beca for funding the registration fees.