FORT WORTH, Texas – On Jan. 28, 2017, 100 students traveled from all over Northeast Tarrant county to compete in the 40th anniversary of the Texas Alliance of Minorities for Engineering (TAME) Fort Worth Divisional Competition at Richland High School. Daniel Fernandez, Chief Operating Officer of NTE Mobility Partners (NTEMP), and Allie Bauman, NTEMP, volunteered as judges for the 2017 Engineering Design Challenge. This is part of NTE’s long-term commitment to STEM education in Birdville ISD. NTEMP and the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) provided a five-year STEM education grant for $476,750 that was awarded to Haltom High School in 2011.
The Fort Worth Divisional STEM Competition began with individual testing in the areas of math and science. Students competed based on their grade level (grades 6-12). In the afternoon, students were split up into 10 teams to design a “satellite.” The teams were given 60 minutes to complete the task with specified criteria. Awards were given to teams for overall performance, teamwork, creativity and design.
After the design challenge, students, judges and volunteers reunited in the cafeteria for the award ceremony. NTEMP’s Fernandez kicked off the ceremony by encouraging students in their pursuit of higher education. “Math is important and your studies are important. If it’s fun for you, go for it!” said Fernandez. “Make sure you like what you do and what you study in college because that will be your job in the future. If you are good at it and you like it, then you will succeed.” Students who had the highest scores during individual testing, and the winning 2017 Engineering Design Challenge team will go on to compete at the state level.