Hats off to the two Aquinas College teams who competed at the Waikato/Bay of Plenty EPro8 Challenge Grand Final in Hamilton at the end of Term 2. Following standout performances in the semi-finals, they did us proud!
After dominating the semis, both senior teams were ultimately edged out of the grand final placings — largely due to a tricky opening challenge.
The event marked the swansong performance of our Year 13 team — Ture Hansson, Shiloh Bantugan, Monique Faire, and Dylan Tran, who stepped in for regular member Jake Bollee. Just days earlier, they had finished second in the semi-finals. We salute these engineering legends and their outstanding problem-solving skills!
Our Year 11 team of Patrick Nelis, Ben Talbot, Jin Tumbokon, and Oliver Laurie also made their mark. After finishing third-equal in the semis, they put in a solid effort to finish mid-table at the grand final—an excellent result in such a high-level competition.
The EPro8 Challenge is a nationwide science and engineering competition aimed at fostering problem-solving skills among students. Over 35,000 participants from across New Zealand compete each year.
Well done, teams.
