A team of Mars Area High School technology education students competed in the fourth annual Shaler Area STEAM Competition, held March 8 at Shaler Area High School.

The team of seniors Nicolas Campagna, Howard Huang and Ian Sleigh, junior Adrian Zugehar, and sophomore Theodore Ruffner took first place overall as well as first place in the “Glider Design” and “Art/Short Story” categories and third place in the “Biology Virus Mapping” and “Bridge Design & Construction” categories. The team earned additional points for solving bonus mathematics problems.

Participating teams were asked to design and build a launcher and glider plane capable of traveling varying distances, carry a golf ball, and performing a loop maneuver in the air. Team members then needed to work collaboratively to complete four on-site challenges based on the “Jurassic Park” movie series and incorporating various aspects of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics).

All teams were required to submit a design proposal, including sketches and dimensions, and to document the process through photographs. For more information, visit www.sasd.k12.pa.us.