If the towers and bridges of the future are engineered by students from Cessnock East Public School, then they are in good hands.
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A team of year four students from the school won the Engineers Australia straw tower-building challenge at Westfield Kotara on November 2.
The challenge aims to encourage students’ interest in engineering through innovation and exploring principles, while having lots of fun.
Competing against 54 teams from 13 other schools, the Cessnock East team demonstrated excellence in engineering design, construction and teamwork.
Each team was faced with the scenario that a large earthquake had just hit Newcastle, and as budding engineers, their help was needed to design a tower that will withstand such a shake.
The towers had to be made from drinking straws, held together by glue, measure 50 centimetres high and weigh no more than 60 grams.
Cessnock East’s winning tower was able to hold an incredible weight of more than seven-and-a-half kilograms, which greatly impressed the judges and the large audience of spectators.
