ANTICIPATION. Sophomores Anupama Narayana, Alice Lundgren, and Deeptangshu Chatterjee prepare for the first section of the TEAMS competition. The competition had three parts; the first was comprised of 80 multiple choice questions that asked primarily math-based questions about engineering scenarios. The sophomore team found themselves frustrated and unsure about many of the problems, and frazzled queries abounded as teammates consulted each other for assistance. “Why is it a trapezoid? It should be a square! I literally don’t ask for much in life,” said Chee Yin (Daniel) Leong, 10, team member, while attempting to answer one question. All photos courtesy of Anisa Khatana.

PRELIMINARY PAPERWORK. Sophomore Caroline Skwara fills out team information on the multiple choice answer sheet. In the background are the lemon muffins Skwara baked to share with her team; many competitors brought food to share with their teammates and snacked their way through the multiple choice section. “It was a fun experience to work with the team and learn from the seniors that have done it before, and I’m glad that I became better friends with people through this experience,” Skwara said.

PLENTY TO SHARE. Senior Matthew Swartz offers leftover cupcakes to the sophomore team during lunch as they sit around a table littered with box lunches and dominated by their tower. Lunch was held after the second section of the competition: the design challenge. The tower pictured was built from the allotted straws, pipe cleaners, and paper clips during the build. Teams were tasked with constructing a tower while factoring in height, theoretical cost of materials, time used, and the structure’s ability to support a tennis ball. “We had to work together and cooperate to get things done. I think it was a good experience to build those skills,” said Andre Harte, 10.

TOWERING ABOVE THE OTHERS. During lunch, senior Max Snyder and his team pass the time by building their tower up using leftover straws. The paper hanging off of the structure read “GO AVES,” a message written on paper included in the packaging of the boxed lunch all competitors received. “TEAMS is a wonderful experience in which two eight-person teams are subjected to various challenges. Afterwards, we have a nice lunch of catered meals and watch the awards ceremony,” Snyder said. “TEAMS” is an acronym for “Tests of Engineering, Aptitude, Math, and Science.”

MESSING AROUND. The sophomore team also does their fair share of recreational experimentation with their tower; here, Leong and Harte attempt to balance their tower upside-down. After weeks of preparing for the two on-site sections of the competition and assembling the third, an essay that outlined a plan for making a prominent local building more environmentally friendly, and three hours of problem solving, the teams allowed themselves to unwind with these frivolities. Both teams placed first in their divisions, which were based on class size. The sophomore team placed second in the ninth and tenth grade category, and the senior team placed first overall. “Our brain is fried,” Leong said.