Teams from the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation took the top awards at the annual
Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) competition on Feb.
18 at Trine University.
The event, which included 200 students on 25 middle and high school teams, is a qualifier
for the TEAMS national competition, to be held during the national Technology Student
Association (TSA) conference June 27 to July 1 in Nashville, Tennessee.
During the two parts of the contest conducted at Trine, the teams, consisting of eight
students, completed a multiple-choice test and a design/build challenge, where they
worked on and tested their solution to an assigned project. A third portion of the
competition was conducted at the schools.
The theme for this year’s TEAMS competitions is “Engineering in the Wild.”
The Trine event awards travelling trophies to the teams with the highest scores on
the multiple-choice test in Divisions I (11th- and 12th-grade teams) and II (ninth-
and 10th-grade teams).
The “B” Team from Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana, was the champion in Division
I, taking the John J. McKetta Outstanding Junior Engineering Team Award. Team members
were Jayden Bell, Oliver Hu, Evan Li, Allison Nguyen, Sharon Ni, Neda Stancheva, Aidan
Sweeney and Grace Waddell.
The Penn High School “D” Team won Division II and the Mike McKetta Outstanding Junior
Engineering Team Award. Team members included Alexander Du, Salem Fitwi, Art Haines,
Jed Kim, Luca Nijim, J.R. Roach, Anitej Waghray and Matthew Zhang.
Both teams were coached by Adam Beck.
The “A” team from Discovery Middle School in Granger, Indiana, won the middle school
division. Team members were Joshua Kim, Cameron Poznanski, Bella Schaetzle, Noah Schafer,
Jaden Shim, Jayden Wang, Michelle Yen and Felix Zhang. The team is coached by Scott
Vandygriff.
The TEAMS competition is hosted by Trine University’s McKetta Department of Chemical
and Bioprocess Engineering.
Top photo: The Penn High School “B” Team: From left, Coach Adam Beck, Neda Stancheva, Allison
Nguyen, Sharon Ni, Grace Waddell, Jayden Bell, Aidan Sweeney, Oliver Hu and Evan Li.