Physics hosts Science Olympiad

Written by physics staff

In recent years, the Department of Physics’ staff and students have been heavily involved in the Region 10 Science Olympiad held at WMU and brings more than 400 students from Allegan, Barry, Branch, Calhoun and Kalamazoo Counties to campus each March to compete in middle school and high school divisions.

These young scientists participate in dozens of events that test their knowledge of physical, applied and health science areas.

Events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology.

Emphasis is placed on active, hands-on group participation toward the goal of sparking interest in scientific inquiry. Just as teamwork is a required skill in most science careers today, the Science Olympiad encourages group learning with events that forge alliances.

Science Olympiad is a national nonprofit organization that promotes scientific literacy for all students—a goal shared by education, business, industry and government.

Every year, undergraduate students from the WMU Physics Club help run hands-on events in Rood Hall including the “Mission Impossible” and “Simple Machine” challenges pictured here, which required students to fabricate machines that performed a predetermined task—like measuring mass or transferring energy—within a set timeframe.

Special thanks for this event go to Dr. Manuel Bautista, Dr. Paul Pancella and Dr. Zbigniew Chajecki; laboratory manager Chris Hoffmann; and our dedicated students: Kenwood Hoben, Jared Foote, Enrique Gamez, Liz Creager, Gene Kopf, Ioannis Nearchou, Mady Higinbotham, Kyle Simpson, Mike Pirkola and Adam Newton.