Hot Springs STEAM team qualifies for national competition in Texas

Last year, the Hot Springs Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math team’s aspiration to qualify for Nationals grew exponentially when the team fell three points short of making it to the STEAM National competition held in Austin, Texas.

According to STEAM adviser Beau Herman, this year the team wouldn’t be denied.

“They fell short on their verbal last year at Regionals,” Herman said. “They worked, drilled, and picked up right where they ended up and ran with it entirely on their own. When you are that close to making it to the Nationals and three points makes you or breaks you, it really motivated them. This was their goal to make it to Nationals this year no matter what happened.”

Ever determined to make it to Austin, Herman said his team went to work early.

“They worked hard, started even earlier this year, and redesigned their car from the ground up,” Herman said. “They started contacting new companies for sponsorships and tried to start a new design, motto, and marketing scheme. They had a whole different budget. They also ran social media and put it on their websites. They had to do all of this while maintaining their academic achievements in school.”

Herman, who is a former athlete and will be Hot Springs’ assistant athletic director next season, said his students put in just as much work as any athletic team.

The work his students put in paid dividends. Redesigning the campaign for their Formula 1 car showcased everything they would do in a prototype vehicle. They created a portfolio, pit display, marketing designs, engineering portfolio, and an enterprise portfolio. The team qualified for this year’s National competition in Austin, Texas.

According to Herman, his team built the concept from the ground up. They had a glass case to hold their car that was made of blue pine to incorporate the marketing banner.

“They wanted to bring something no one else would have picked, so they bundled and wrapped sage to hand out to the judges at Nationals,” Herman said. “The teams really try to set themselves apart from everyone else at the National competition.”

The Pit Display, which is nine feet long and three feet tall, held the team’s portfolio.

“They really dedicated themselves and they wanted to achieve it at Nationals,” Herman said. “This year, they just hit their stride at the right time and we made it to Austin.”

They built the model car from high density foam. The students wanted their car to have a virtual wind tunnel so they could load the program C&C router to cut the car out of the foam block. Then they used a 3-D printer to print out noise cones, their wings, and all of the other parts including their bearing and axle system.

“Once they designed everything, they assembled the car, sanded it, painted it and tested it in real life,” Herman said. “If it doesn’t hold up through specifications, then they try a new design and do it all over again.”

According to Herman, the team went through three designs this year before they found one that worked.

The STEAM team had to qualify at the local and state competition before they could advance to the National competition.

The regional was held at Butte and the state was held at Highlands College.

“We did our own competition this year, and Ronan and Plains were invited,” Herman said. “We ended up having to race our own car against ourselves this year. In each stage of competition, you have to show improvements from the previous competition.”

Herman discussed the specific specifications and requirements once his team got to the National stage.

“Once you got to Nationals, you end up racing your car nine times,” Herman said. “We had head-to-head knockout racers. We ran our cars in other trials against other teams. Racing the car is actually a very small component. There are 60 pages of specifications and rules that are designed in this car. For instance, if you are off .3 millimeters, you have to adjust the thickness of your tape to meet the specifications for the length.”

Herman, whose wife Rae Herman helped the team get some grant money, and the team together was able to raise over $3,000 between sponsorships and donations. They received help from the school to cover their flights and hotel in Austin.

The proposed budget the team worked with was specific. The team worked with a budget of $14,735, excluding spending money and travel money.

“The students get a return on their investment with the time and dedication,” Herman said. “They really learn a lot of valuable life skills with their public speaking, having to do research, and follow directions to a tee, which is something they would have to do at any job they would apply to and get. There are many challenges they might face at any given moment and some team members quit at the last moment on them. How they adapt to dealing with a team member that is no longer there is more than just academics. They learn how to interact with their peers and problem solve.”

Though the team fell short of making it to the World competition in Malaysia, Herman said he can’t express his pride in his team’s work enough.

“No matter what happens, I am just super proud of them,” Herman said. “They have overcome obstacles and they pushed through. I am super impressed by them and they are top notch examples in our school.”