Braves Engineering Team Takes 5th in Chevron Design Challenge

Congratulations to Introduction to Engineering Design students Marlon Washington ’18, Laila Schnebelt ’17, and Caspar Croft ’16 (left to right above) for their 5th place finish at the Project Lead the Way [PLTW] Chevron Design Challenge on Saturday, April 18.
Congratulations to Introduction to Engineering Design students Marlon Washington ’18, Laila Schnebelt ’17, and Caspar Croft ’16 (left to right above) for their 5th place finish at the Project Lead the Way [PLTW] Chevron Design Challenge on Saturday, April 18. With 16 teams from around the Bay Area in the competition and prize money at stake, these students had to work as a team and apply what they’ve been learning all year without any teacher input in the process.

These Braves were most certainly up to the challenge having been selected from a pool of volunteers for their keen skills and potential. For the competition team had only a few hours to go from a design briefing to creating an original design concept with full 3-D modeling and engineering drawings. The task was to design a new ladder/stepstool type of device specifically for senior citizens who might have trouble using a conventional ladder. The team had to meet various design constraints of safety, stability, portability, dimensions, weight, cost, manufacturability, and marketability. In addition, deadlines throughout the day had to be met. The day culminated with a team presentation (sales pitch) to a group of engineers and executives from Chevron and local firms.

The Braves team designed and presented “Steps to Success,” a stepstool system with trundle-type steps that pulled out from the frame and included hand rails for additional safety. It also contained a top step storage compartment for tools. The concept included a strap to prevent falling off and a tray to place tools while working.

Marlon Washington ’18 shared, “It was exciting to apply the skills acquired in engineering class in a competitive environment. Ultimately, the experience was rewarding, as we designed an item to reduce the daily challenges of others while working collaboratively as a team.

Caspar Croft ’16, who has hopes of becoming an electrical engineer one day, reflects, “I learned that time management is crucial when working on design briefs. As a team, we worked together for most parts but there were many parts where we would split off to work alone in pairs to allow work to be started early so deadlines were not as important. I mainly worked on the Autodesk parts, while helping with brainstorming and the presentation a little bit. I learned that ideas should not be as complicated when such little time constraints are given and details are much less important than the overall part. While this was a stressful experience, I had some fun being able to work with my teammates. Croft went on

Their teacher, Mr. Gary Carpenter, couldn’t have been more proud with the way the team represented themselves and the school. “They worked as a team, had fun, and created a fantastically charismatic and professional presentation by the end of the day. I’m very proud of them!” Mr. Carpenter is already thinking toward next year and is confident that a Braves team could advance to the state competition.

NOTE: The 2014-15 academic year marks the third year of Justin-Siena’s participation in Project Lead the Way. Interest in engineering continues to grow among students and participation in these sorts of competitions and events provides great learning experiences for our engineering students. Earlier this year the Justin-Siena Engineering Department hosted a FIRST LEGO League Robotics competition on campus and will be hosting their second summer of a Robotics Institute enrichment program for young students.
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    • Congratulations to Introduction to Engineering Design students Marlon Washington ’18, Laila Schnebelt ’17, and Caspar Croft ’16 (left to right above) for their 5th place finish at the Project Lead the Way [PLTW] Chevron Design Challenge on Saturday, April 18.

Justin-Siena High School

4026 Maher Street
Napa, CA, 94558
United States
T: 707.255.0950 
F: 707.255.0334
Justin-Siena is a Lasallian Catholic college preparatory community that serves young people in grades 9–12.