Science Olympiad
Each year, Science Olympiad provides a list of events where students can compete academically at the invitational, regional, state, and national level. These events often have two people working together and can be separated into three categories: study-based, labs, or building/hands-on. The tests cover a broad range of questions and these event topics are not often found in the traditional school curriculum. Most of the study-based events allow people to bring study sheets or binders while the building events may allow you to bring special equipment. Learn more: https://www.soinc.org/
I was on the Science Olympiad team for two years and competed at the state level. I participated in five main events, three of which were engineering-based.
> Circuit Lab
Circuit Lab had a writing and lab portion to the test and it was my first encounter in studying circuit theory. Previously, I had experience working with circuit components at the Cat Attack Robotics and Science Olympiad’s Mission Possible event. These components ranged from small transistors to large motor controllers but the understanding of how they work was minimal. The lab portion varied at each competition but it was rather easy as I had to deal with light bulbs, use a multimeter, identify a mystery resistor, etc.
Like all other Science Olympiad events, the written portion was difficult because of the range of information that could be tested. I learned to be cohesive in studying the material. This meant securing all the easy points first by including equations, charts, and figures on my study sheet.
I was introduced to new concepts like PN junctions, how Op-Amps work, and truth tables. I then applied what I learned for the Mission Possible event. At the state-level competition, I had the opportunity to visit The Ohio State University’s High Voltage and Power Electronics Lab. This was just perfect since I wanted to major in electrical engineering 😀
> Thermodynamics
Similar to Circuit Lab, the Thermodynamics event had a written and lab portion to the test. However, the lab portion weighed significantly more in the final score since I had to build a heat-preserving device and predict the final temperature with the given conditions. A major mistake was that I focused too much time on the building process and temperature prediction. Thankfully, I just had to worry about studying the concepts and figuring out the math since my device was consistent in the lab portion.
The rules sheet had a small section for potential Thermodynamics concepts but the tests were often math-heavy. I found myself scoring very low (40 – 60%) but I was still awarded with medals. Most everyone did poorly and the curve on the score was high. I found that I needed to strengthen my skill in independent studying since it would be crucial when I become a college student.
For the testing portion, my device had to fit within a 15 cm3 cube and allow for the removal of a hot water-filled beaker. There was also a half-inch hole to measure the temperature of the water (thermometer) but the hole can be sealed-up with cotton balls. At the start, supervisors gave the hot water to each team and each recorded the initial temperature. We were then asked to give a temperature prediction at the end of a certain time period (20 – 30 min). I used an equation to fill in all the variables and the predictions were generally off by 2 – 3°C.
Prototype with 3D printer 
Final Design 
In the past, my experience with 3D-printing was mainly small items but it was nothing at the scale with the prototype seen above. It was also the first time I designed and printed a model using Solidworks. Some lessons learned: double-sided duct tape prevents uneven cooling of the ABS plastic and keeping the tolerances reasonable ensures that the parts fit together. The prototype was then filled with plastic bags containing aerogel, an insane insulator. However, the heat retention was lower than expected so I moved to another design.
The idea for the final design was to eliminate the air gaps. The foam’s thermal conductivity was lower than aerogel but I was able to build the entire device using foam. So, variables like thickness, surface area, etc gave me better results than the prototype. To maximize contact with the beaker, I created multiple layers of foam-block quads. These quads were joined with toothpicks so I could find the perfect fit for the beaker. You could hold the device upside down and the beaker wouldn’t fall!
AND… the beaker was removable to fill with hot water.
> Mission Possible
The Mission Possible event was by far the most interesting and challenging event in Science Olympiad (in my opinion). In short, I had to build a Rube Goldberg device according to the list of tasks in the rules sheet. There were many factors to consider such as time limit, bonuses, or point reductions. Since this was a pure building event, all I had to do was build the device, test it, and compete. It sounds easy but I struggled with the issue of consistency. Since the device had moving parts, there was room for error.
When I first joined Science Olympiad (2018), my main focus was spent on Mission Possible. In the beginning, I remember reading the rules sheet over and over again to understand all the scorable tasks. I had to make sure that my ideas didn’t violate any rules and see if there are any tricks/loopholes.
Designing the mechanisms was not too bad. But, connecting the ending action of one mechanism to the starting of another was rather difficult. I saw the opportunity of using electrical components so I bought a circuit kit and began messing around with LEDs. This was my first time using smaller circuit components and it was also during this time that I joined the Wiring Team for the Cat Attack Robotics.
In 2018, there were two modules that I thought were interesting. The Pythagoras Cup (YouTube) relied on a siphoning effect that draws the water out from the bottom of the cup when the water level was too high. This allowed me to use the large magnet to raise the water level and mix the salt with the overflow of water. Since saltwater is conductive, it acts as a switch to start the next action.
The other module was to solve the task of “using light to initiate a chemical reaction.” I think the writers’ of the task had the intention of using a laser to burn something. My solution to the task was the use of photochromic lenses. The ultraviolet (UV) light from the LED would darken the lens which meant that less light would arrive at the photocell. This increasing the resistance in the circuit connected to the photocell. However, a few judges debated on whether the action of UV light striking the photochromic lens counts as a chemical reaction. Plus, the task was later removed from the list of scorable tasks so I had to rebuild my Mission Possible 🙁
The final design turned out to be a success since I was able to take advantage of the electrical tasks in the scorable actions list. The benefits of using these circuit components include reduced volume (+pts), no moving parts, fast run time, and easy transport. Fast run time was beneficial but I wished that added more tasks on the backside of the board or even just a simple timer circuit. I was nowhere near the one-minute target operation time.
A lesson learned was the issue of consistency. Many times, I would see Mission Possible teams misplace something and ruin the setup, or maybe a certain task did not run during competition. For my device, there were a couple of interesting factors.
During setup, I added salt to the bottom and water to the top of the Pythagoras Cup. Any excessive movement might trigger the siphoning or maybe cause the magnet to drop. So, I brought spare material for restarting the setup. An interesting disturbance was that I had to consider the lighting of the testing room! I made a few modifications to address this issue but I still had to adjust the potentiometer (resistance in circuit) with a screwdriver every time.
My senior year brought yet another interesting challenge for Mission Possible. This time, there were few electrical tasks so I sighed and went to work.
The bonus for reduced volume was not worth it so I focused my time on creating as many scorable tasks. Again, the issue of consistency appeared but it wasn’t too big of a problem this time around. I was able to recycle the Pythagoras cup and the Infrared LED circuit but the difficultly lies in transferring mechanical to electrical energy. As a result, I had to scrap two or three of my designs.
The ending task was fun to figure out since I had to plan how the motor and other components fit together before ordering the parts.
