High School Students Wrap Up Water Pump Challenge
A two week competition wrapped up Saturday at McQuaid Jesuit High School.
The challenge was to develop a working water pump on a $50 budget.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
Nearly 100 students worked in teams. They were judged on four different categories: the fastest to fill a one gallon container, the lowest average amps used, the highest pressure generated and the most elegant design.
Organizers say the competition provides students with real world problems, like water sustainability, that scientists are trying to solve.
"The demand for water is expected to increase five times in our generation. So what our attempt to do is to put this problem forward to a younger generation so they get an early bead on something they're going to have to solve," says John Maxwell, McQuaid Robotics Leader.
Xylem engineers were the judges in the competition. Winners of each category won $1,000
Connect a million minds is an education program leading to careers in science, technology and engineering.
The event was sponsored by Time Warner Cable, the parent company of YNN.