As two students of the engineering projects class, we have come to learn so much about the engineering program and the challenges that we face as a team. The main part of the class is building RC racing cars that we use in competitions against other schools. In each class, there are 2 teams that split up and conquer many tasks to try and qualify for the National Championship.

Our team, Billion Dollar Motorsports, is a group of great kids who are looking to improve everyday and strive to become the greatest team possible. The STEM education program is what we preach and learn from everyday. Every team member contributes just as much as the other. We are a team built around hard work and dedication to succeeding. 

We currently have thirteen team members who all have a role in helping our team prosper. So far, we have had one competition, The New England Fall Invitational. Although we did not win, we placed in the top 3 in the Enterprise and Graphic Design events.  We have many positions on our team including team leader, chief of mechanics, race team, project team, marketing team, 3D CAD designers, and public relations. We will be raising money by going door to door to all of the local businesses in our town, so if we get invited to Nationals we will be able to afford it.

We are working harder and harder everyday to prepare for our next competition so we can qualify for The National Championship. Our mechanics team is working day in and day out to perfect our car to be the fastest, most aerodynamic, and most well built car in the country.  If we have lots of success, not only will we be representing our school, but we will also be representing our amazing community. We want to show our competitors from around the world how a small town by the name of Ipswich, Massachusetts can win.

We interviewed a fellow classmate named Andrew Gilligan and here is what he had to say about improving the program.

“I think scheduling and setting up more races will help the program because it will bring in money and gives us much more practice before the finals later in the school year.”

We also interviewed our principal, Mr. Mitchell, and he thinks there are many benefits to the program, not just for the fun and experience, but also to give students the experience they need for the real world in the engineering field.

When asked if students will benefit from the class after high school, Andrew and Mr. Mitchell had similar responses.

“Yes, because you have to do a lot of hands on work and problem solving” Andrew said.

“I think it would help kids who want to be engineers in the future. While obviously important, learning math is just one part of becoming an engineer. The tech classes provide students with unique opportunities to design solutions, to work in teams, to solve problems, and to persevere. Those are hands-on, real world skills from which any student can benefit, whether they want to go into engineering or not,” said Mr.Mitchell

In conclusion, our team has the potential to make the National Championship and show what our school can do. Also it gives kids the opportunity to learn about engineering and jump straight into the workforce rather than going to college if they so choose. We hope that the engineering program is run for many years after we graduate and hopefully long enough for our kids to be able to have the experience we did.