Colorado State University-Pueblo hosts Engineering Science and Technology Design Contest

Pueblo-  East High School and Heaton Middle School will attempt to keep their traveling trophies as champions of the 2007 Colorado State University - Pueblo Engineering, Science and Technology Design Contest. More than 250 students from five high schools and eight middle schools are registered to participate in the 14th annual Design Contest to be held Saturday (March 8) in the Occhiato University Center and the Technology Building on the CSU-Pueblo campus. The students have been organized into 120 teams for the seven-event competition that challenges students’ critical thinking, teamwork, and creative design skills.

Five different individual competitions, requiring prior designs, evaluate student-produced projects in areas like mousetrap cars and catapults, concrete barge, moat jumper, and onsite construction. Student-built projects are tested against specific performance criteria. Two additional impromptu strategy events further test students’ ability to communicate, problem solve, and rapidly construct workable solutions when presented with challenges the day of the competition.

Teams will test their designs and strategies for the final competition on Saturday from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. During the competition, four-member teams compete for the top three places in seven individual events in both middle and high school divisions, as well as for overall middle and high school team awards. Traveling trophies have been established for the top schools in the two categories. Pueblo East High School and Heaton Middle School will be returning to defend their titles at the 2008 event. Top finishers receive technical calculators and other prizes provided by local merchants.

Participating high schools include: Pueblo East, Pueblo Technical Academy, Sierra from Colorado Springs, Alamosa, and Rye. Middle schools registering teams include: Corwin, Heaton, Pitts, and Risley from Pueblo, Sabin from Colorado Springs, Ortega from Alamosa, Fountain, and Trinidad.

Faculty and student clubs within the CSU – Pueblo College of Education, Engineering, and Professional Studies will conduct the event, which is sponsored and supported by numerous local businesses. For more information, contact Dr. George Dallam, competition chair and associate professor of exercise science, health promotion, and recreation, at 719-549-2619 or Dr. Hector Carrasco, dean of the College of Education, Engineering, and Professional Studies, at 719-549-2696.


Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.