NJIT Hosts TSA-TEAMS Competition
On Monday, March 18, 2019, NJIT will make science competitive yet fun when it hosts TEAMS, an annual science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) competition for middle and high school students that is designed to help them discover their potential for engineering, as well as inspire them to consider careers in the field.
TEAMS is administered by the Technology Student Association (TSA), a national nonprofit organization for students engaged in STEM. The competition helps develop “STEM-capable” students in an engaging way by showing them how math and science, with an engineering focus, are used to make tangible differences in the world.
Through an integrated STEM learning experience, TEAMS challenges students to work collaboratively and apply their engineering aptitude, mathematics and science knowledge in practical, creative ways to solve real-world engineering challenges. After participating in TEAMS, students increase their knowledge of engineering, feel more confident about participating in STEM activities and increase their ability to work with others to solve complex problems.
Focused on a theme each year, original academic and innovative concepts are developed for the TEAMS competition based on the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges. The theme for 2019 is “The Engineering Brain.”
NJIT, which has hosted the competition for the state of New Jersey for 21 years, will welcome 36 teams of middle and high school students (each team is required to have four to eight students), who possess both great interest in STEM fields and strong academic achievements. Participating high schools include Fair Lawn, Governor Livingston, Hillside, Lawrence, Mahwah, Manalapan, New Providence, Northern Valley Regional at Old Tappan, Sparta Engineering STEM Academy, Spotswood and Tenafly. Middle schools taking part are Hoboken Charter, New Providence and Orange Public Schools.
Team registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Campus Center Gallery, followed by a multiple-choice test in the morning. In the afternoon, the teams will take part in a design/build challenge using designated materials. The teams will have already researched, written and electronically submitted an in-depth essay before the competition.
Teams that place in the top three during the state-level competitions and teams that achieve a minimum score at the state level will be invited to compete in the 2019 national TEAMS competitions, to be held during the national TSA conference, June 28 – July 2, 2019, at National Harbor near Washington D.C.
