Ava Landry
Louisiana Collegiate Design
Competition
State Champions
Duration: March 15-18, 2019
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Skills Developed:​ Team Collaboration, Time Management, Professional Development, Budgeting, Troubleshooting
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Team Members: Madeline Kirby, Ava Landry, Nick Mayeaux, Mia Reed
My Experience
Louisiana Collegiate Design Competition was a competition for high school and college students at Louisiana State University. Teams of students competed to solve a challenge by building a device using limited materials. We were given a base supply of materials and were able to buy others in a competition "store". Our team, the BRME's, came out first overall with our catapult design.
Team Collaboration
This whole project was a collaboration between myself and 3 of my classmates. Though I individually contributed our elastic design and troubleshooting efforts, we all had a part to play in our success. It was awesome working with peers and using our ideas to create a whollistic design.
Time Management
We had designated times to build and design our projects. This challenged us to not only come up with an effective design, but to use our time wisely so as to have enough time to complete the task.
Professional Development
We were able to interact with several industry professionals throughout the course of the competition. They critiqued our designs and offered tips on how to improve. This was an awesome way to network and receive positive feedback on our work.
Budgeting
We were given a specific amount of money to use in the competition store. We as a team had to decide on how to use this money and what materials were more important. We spent way more than we should have on weak glue when rubber bands may have been a better purchase for holding our materials together.
Troubleshooting
Right after our practice round, we discovered that the design we made did not account for the weight of the objects on the catapult. To counteract this, we filled a bucket with water to hold our device down and utilized our feet. This oversight, though stressful, really forced us to grow in our troubleshooting skills and remain calm.
Lessons Learned
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