North Hills Middle School students claimed third-place
honors during the NFPA Fluid Power Challenge. The winning team consisted of eighth-graders
Emma Kim and Odette Sherk and seventh-graders Maggie Davis and Abby Thinnes. During the two-day competition, middle school students must work as a team to solve an engineering problem using fluid power technology. Fluid power takes two forms – Hydraulics and Pneumatics – and uses water or oil and air or carbon dioxide to create or transmit power.
After a Workshop Day, students go back to their schools and
design and build a fluid power mechanism using the same supplies as all other
teams that will be used to compete in a timed competition. During the Challenge
Day, students submit their design, build their machine and compete in the timed
competition.
The event promotes math and science education and allows
students to be exposed to careers that involved fluid power and other
technologies.