ROME — Tenth grade students from 10 Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) programs throughout New York State competed Friday in a contest to brainstorm, design, fabricate and operate an engineering challenge. The second annual Engineering Wars competition, designed by Trenton Technology Inc. and hosted by the Innovare Advancement Center, also gave them the unique chance to network with each other and share their own experiences from their home school districts.

A panel of judges from Trenton Technology heard the students’ presentations and selected the first, second and third place winning teams. The competition saw Greater Southern Tier STEM Academy in Corning take first place; second place went to Questar III BOCES and HVCC STEM High School in Castleton-on-Hudson and third place was P-TECH at ITC in Syracuse.

During lunch, students also had the chance to talk with each another and trade keepsake pins adorned with their own P-TECH program logos.

There were two groups of students from Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES in New Hartford competing. One group of four students constructed a cardboard tower wound with varying thicknesses of elastic bands to test how those bands would support balls made of different materials, from lightweight ping pong balls to heavy metal ball bearings. They spent about a week before the competition figuring their concept and plans and finalized them once they arrived at Engineering Wars, OHM BOCES team member Lily Boris said.

The second group employed cardboard, wood and a glue gun plus different kinds of balls to construct a sorting machine where the balls were expected to fall through in order of their weight.

“This is a great way for the students to all come together in teams to compete for a coveted trophy they can keep for a year,” said Tiffany Piatkowski, P-TECH STEM teacher at OHM BOCES. “They also have a great opportunity to network during their lunch and share ideas with each other. This was a real well-rounded opportunity for an authentic challenge to solve in real time.”

“I think we are getting a lot of good experience out of this,” Boris said.

OHM BOCES P-TECH Principal Erica Schoff said this was the second year for Engineering Wars and the first where it could be held in person. Last year the competition was held through video submissions, she said. Schoff said she looks forward to its return next year.

And whether they took home a trophy or not, there are really no losers in the Engineering Wars competition, Schoff added.

“Even if they fail, that is all a part of the learning process,” she explained.