A LAKE Macquarie school has finished third on day two of the Science and Engineering Challenge state finals.
Hosted by the University of Newcastle, who held the first challenge in 2000, the event is across three days and sees more than 250 year nine and 10 students from 24 schools compete. The school with the most points goes on to the national finals at Bendigo in October.
Tuesday, the second day of this year's challenge, saw Lakes Grammar finish third place - one point behind Calrossy Anglican School.
"I'm extremely proud," Lakes Grammar science teacher Smaro Tsiricopoulos said.
"It's great to see them collaborate and work at this level and obviously it opens the horizon for them to make informed choices in these fields."
The day's final challenge saw students construct a bridge out of balsa wood and masking tape to support increasingly heavy weights loaded onto a small 'railcar'.
Luke Ostergaard, Liam Moore, Jaimie Cook and Thomas Ellen represented Lakes Grammar in the challenge which was, they said, a surprise.
"It was a big twist," Liam said.
"At the regional day we were doing a different challenge so we had the same people ready to do the bridge this time. We got here and were assigned to the bridge so all those plans changed."
Emmaus Christian School from Canberra won the day and also won the bridge challenge.
"As soon as we saw it we thought 'that's a good one, we should have thought of that'," Jaimie said.
Merewether High and Newcastle Grammar will both compete on Wednesday with hopes of outscoring Emmaus Christian College for a spot on the national stage.
Schools from as far as Cobar travelled to compete in the challenge and UoN Vice Chancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky said the day gets young people thinking about their pathways to university.
"Doing practical things and understanding there is a method behind solving these problems," Professor Zelinsky said.
"Engineering and science solve real world problems."
Emeritus Professor and chair of the national council for the Science and Engineering Challenge, John O'Connor, said the event changes students' perceptions of science and engineering.
"They discover that it involves creativity, innovation, teamwork and problem solving," Professor O'Connor said.
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