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http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/07/franklin_high_school_team_powe.html

Franklin High School's state engineering design champions walked into a national competition in Denver last month, scoped out the competition and instantly felt intimidated.

Their quickly built wooden model windmill looked as though it wouldn't stand a chance against the complex metal structures competing in this year's Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement design contest. The national competition on wind-energy design brought together seven groups of students who had won their state contests.

The contraptions' task: Harness wind energy from a box fan to lift as much weight, as fast as possible; quickly drag a weighted car; and effectively respond to changes in wind direction.

The students' task: Fashion an efficient windmill with no outside help.

"Our school is not a tech school," said Nick Roberts, 17, one of three Franklin students who competed, "so we felt a little ..."

"Out of place," finished teammate Zoë Chrisman-Miller, 16.

Along with friend Conor Black, 17, the group fashioned a windmill out of balsa wood, scrap wood, nails and duct tape.

They tested and perfected the blades, finding that oval blades were more aerodynamic than rectangular ones. And they put together a research paper and a cardboard display. They earned a spot in the national competition in mid-May by besting about 15 other groups from Portland-area schools.

Out of eight mostly Western states that participate in Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement, Oregon has the fewest chapters, meaning the trio competed against teams that had passed through multiple state competitions. The national program, which serves nearly 3,000 schools, aims to encourage middle and high school students - especially minorities and girls - to pursue careers in engineering, math and science, and provides career-exploration lectures, teacher training and SAT help.

California, which has the largest program, serves 120 high schools to Oregon's eight.

"Our students were up against the cream of the crop," said David Coronado, the organization's Oregon coordinator, who works out of Portland State University's science and engineering school. "To be able to compete at that level is pretty exciting."

Roberts remembers his shock at the Arizona team's poster board, which touted its windmill's ability to drag a model car loaded with three bricks. His team's windmill managed about a dozen metal weights totaling 11.2 kilograms.

"Once we got there, we thought we might be a little bit out of our league," said Roberts, who's interested in film and writing, and put together the technical paper.

But the students' chemistry teacher, Merritt Dalton, who encouraged them to compete, said the intimidation didn't last long. "They got in there and found they were still consistently producing results."

The group walked away with five medals and a golden trophy for winning third place overall. It was the first time an Oregon high school team placed in the top three in nationals since the state began competing about a decade ago.

"It was a lot of trial and error," said Chrisman-Miller, summing up the team's experience. "We underestimated how much time we needed to put into it."

She said leaving more time for testing could have made the windmill more powerful. Next year, the team plans to get an earlier start. And now they know that a fancy-looking contraption doesn't necessarily produce solid results.

"We'll know what to expect," Chrisman-Miller said. "And the trophy is more of a motivation to do better next year."