By Ruth Chungi
In Motion Staff Writer
A steady roar fills Daytona State College’s Lemerand Center gym as a multitude of groups of high school students flood the area deep in chatter.
Excluding the familiar atmosphere of elation and enthusiasm, this was a competition much different from the usual sporting events here. It has more to do with physics then the physical. This is the annual Physics Olympics!
Although the event originally debuted a decade ago, the most recent Physics Olympics, held on April Fools’ Day, was the third consecutive event held on campus and it was no joking matter.
As noted by Dr. Gajendra Tulsian, DSC Physics Professor and the co-founder of the event, the aim of the Olympics is “to get students excited about STEM fields and to show them that science can be fun.”
STEM, for those who don’t know, stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine, all fields lacking adequate representations from women and, in a larger sense, from the United States on a global level.
At the latest Olympics, with time, the racket finally dies down and each school is seated in its self-designated area. The turnout is evidence that the event is a great success, due to participating high schools from within Volusia County — such as Mainland — and outside the county, such as Matanzas in Palm Coast.
Professor Tulsian, also the host, took to the stage welcoming participants and briefly explaining the events and rules of the Olympics. Shortly thereafter, the ambitious students eagerly began to participate in the various competitions. The students have many options in the array of 10 events, including Ball Rolling Down Ramp, Bridge Building, Coat Hook Cannon, Egg Drop and Rube Goldberg Machine. Each event is manned by a DSC student to offer guidance and assistance to the ardent competitors.
After a few hours of rigorous “sciencing,” the Olympics took a quick break to let the large crowd refuel on pizza. Once everyone was reenergized, Dr. Tulsian announced the commencement of the final, and his personal favorite event, the Rube Goldberg Machine. Rube Goldberg was a San Francisco artist who created a cartoon based on his vision of complicated machines completing simple tasks. For his efforts he won a Pulitzer Prize for his zany cartoon creations.
Goldberg’s “inventions” caught the American imagination and led to the development of the Mouse Trap game, as well as an annual engineering competition for colleges and high schools that began in 1949 at Purdue University. Preliminaries are held throughout the U.S., then end with a national contest.
At the end of the DSC event, there was an award ceremony befitting the Olympics. Unlike previous years where Mainland dominated the majority of the competitions, winners this year were better distributed. Mainland, Matanzas and Deltona emerged as the top-ranking schools.
Participant Adam Durr from Mainland High School said it is apparent that Tulsian’s aim was met.
Durr said the best part of it was, “Having fun. It’s a wonderful event where you get to apply what you learn in the classroom. And you get to meet new people.”
The Olympics is held annually at the beginning of April. It is open to regional high schools and assistance from college students is always welcome. For information visit http://www.drtulsian.com/physicsOlympics.php.