A handful of secondary schools from the Halton District School Board took part in the recent provincial
ASM Materials Olympics with three teams winning in their categories.
The inaugural ASM Materials Olympics was hosted by McMaster University on Feb. 22. Organized by the Materials Science and Engineering Department, the event provided an opportunity for secondary students across the province to design and build solutions using materials science/engineering skills. Teams of students were challenged to design and build solutions to problems with the goal of amplifying the performance of materials.
Of the 29 teams that competed in the Materials Olympics, four Halton District School Board schools were represented: Abbey Park HS, Elsie MacGill SS, Garth Webb SS and Iroquois Ridge HS.
Teams of students competed in challenges such as the Conductivity Competition, which required students to build a component with a pre-defined conductivity; the Microscopy Competition, which challenged students to use a microscope to locate an image of Waldo that was approximately 1/10th the width of a human hair; and the DomesDay Competition, in which students constructed a dome with the goal of withstanding the highest compressive load.
Teams 25 and 13 from Elsie MacGill SS won the Microscopy Competition and Resistance Competition, respectively.
Team 8 From Iroquois Ridge HS, which included Grade 10 students Elizabeth Cheng and Osa Gupta, won the Material Innovativeness Award for their DomesDay project, in addition to winning a Materials Trivia session. According to Cheng, the design and construction of the dome required repeated group discussions, design, testing, refinement and time management.
Gupta says they joined the Materials Olympics team because it provided the opportunity to learn something new.
“It was a chance to explore something unfamiliar and try something new such as structural design and materials engineering. Working in a team made my experience much more fun. We learned a lot about science together.”
Haider Khan, a Grade 12 student from M.M. Robinson HS, won the logo design competition for the event. In fact, Khan’s design is featured on all ASM Materials Olympics communications (pictured right).
In addition to competing in the challenges, students were able to experience a university lecture about material properties and attend a “Materials Magic Show,”where Dr. Hatem Zurob performed science-based magic tricks.
"Highlighting the fusion of understanding materials and applying technologies with honed skills, the Materials Olympics offered secondary school students a unique experience and opportunity,” says Lisa Ashenhurst, HDSB Instructional Program Lead - Experiential Education STEM/Safety.
“The competition underscored the importance of marrying traditional craftsmanship with contemporary innovation by emphasizing collaboration and critical thinking, alongside exposure to emerging materials technologies. This unique blend equips students with versatile skills and prepares them to excel in post-secondary environments and a rapidly evolving workforce, where mastery of both trades and technology is paramount."
“DomesDay allowed my team and I to collaborate and design a feasible dome, just like how teams of designers work together to solve real-world issues,” says Humza Hasan, a Grade 10 student at Iroquois Ridge HS.
Abbey Park HS Grade 12 student Felicity Feng appreciates the opportunity the event provided to “meet similarly-minded high school students who are as passionate as we are about engineering and network with top members in the field.”
Team 13 from Elsie MacGill HS felt that their experience was “highly informative in terms of post-secondary opportunities” and found that “the trip was entertaining and engaging while still being informative and productive.”
Participation in the Materials Olympics competition showcases the
HDSB 2020-2024 Multi-Year Plan’s Learning and Achievement area of focus, enabling students to learn applicable real-world skills and experience a post-secondary environment.
