Two Aquinas teams have made it through to the Waikato/Bay of Plenty EPro8 Challenge semi-finals, set to take place in Hamilton next week.
Despite being first-time entrants in the senior category, AC Team 2 (Year 11s Patrick Nelis, Jin Tumbokon, Ben Talbot and Oliver Laurie) delivered a rocksteady performance at the Tauranga inter-schools round last month.
Their successful completion of the carpark barrier arm and foosball table challenges kept them in the top three throughout the night, ultimately securing a second-place finish and a well-earned spot in the June 24 semis at the University of Waikato.
AC Team 1 (EPro8 veterans Ture Hansson, Jake Bollee, Shiloh Bantugan and Monique Faire) finished third, an impressive effort considering Dylan Tran and EPro8 newbie, Jordan Kay, were last-minute substitutes for absentees Monique and Shiloh. They, too, are off to Hamilton.
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.
Year 9-10 Inter-School Competition
The Aquinas junior teams did themselves a huge credit at a hybrid inter-school contest with three other junior teams and seven senior ones.
Year 10 entrants (Adrian Adelaide, Jamie Robinson, Eamon Rogers and Colby Thompson replacing Oliver Marr) ended the night third in the juniors and fifth overall. A great result but just missing out on a semi-final berth.
Year 9s Jackson McHugh, Rylan Hardisty, Harrison Avery and Isaac Collett went one better and placed second in the juniors and fourth overall – top drawer stuff given they were the youngest team competing on the night. They receive a wild card which means they may yet make the semi-finals, pending the results of other events still to happen.
Year 7-8 Inter-School Competition
In the Year 7-8 division, our teams faced stiff competition and technical hurdles. Team Techno (Zach de Graaf, Jake Osbaldiston, Alex Smyth and Brayden Nix) and 4-1=0 (Becky Liang, Daisy Kim, Maverick Damasco and Laon Seo) struggled to get approval of their barrier arm challenge, delaying their progress. Despite the setback, both teams refused to quit and finished fifth-equal overall, a respectable placing given the calibre of the top four placegetters.
Credit to Monique Faire and Mrs Lisa Budd who have been running the Wednesday Tech Club sessions that gave teams the chance to practice together.
