Eisenhower Nebula students place second at engineering contest

The hum of gears, the quiet buzz of anticipation, and the spark of student ingenuity all came together on a recent competition day for The Star Seekers, a team of 12 third to fifth graders from Anoka-Hennepin’s school-within-a-school program, Nebula.

Nebula, housed at Eisenhower Elementary, is a full-time gifted program that provides students with a differentiated curriculum by altering pace, depth, and complexity of academic content.

After weeks of designing, testing, and refining their machine as an after school project, the 12 Nebula engineers, coached by Nebula teacher Krista Fink, stepped into the spotlight at the Engineering Machine Design Contest (EMDC) hosted by the Minnesota State Engineering Center of Excellence. This year’s theme, Engineering Across Eras: Innovating Industrial Engineering Through Time!, challenged students to blend historical inspiration with modern innovation to create a complex machine with a chain reaction of 10-15 steps and present it before judges, peers, and guests.

Nebula’s team chose to embrace the competition theme with a heavily researched look on how grain processing has evolved in Minnesota, beginning with Anishinabee processing wild rice, through mills powered by water and wind, then they ‘exploded’ a mini Washburn A Mill to reflect setbacks, and ended with the advanced manufacturing processes seen in Minnesotan factories today. The team used the Engineering Design Process combined with STEM skills from their Nebula curriculum like simple machines, circuitry, programming, and 3D printing.

When the final results were announced, Nebula earned 2nd place in the junior division and were recognized by their peers with the Team’s Choice Award. Students left the competition with a deeper confidence in their abilities, a stronger sense of teamwork, and the realization that their ideas can take them far. Next, the team will compete in Mankato, MN, on April 17, against teams from all over the midwest.

In Nebula, STEM learning doesn’t just stay in the classroom—it comes to life, one design at a time.