Students from around the region put their scientific skills to the test on Wednesday 10 June when the annual Science and Engineering Challenge hosted by the University of Newcastle and the Rotary Club of Young came to Young High School.

Twenty students from year 7, 8, 9 and 10 formed Young High School's Science and Engineering team and they competed against teams from Boorowa Central School, Hennessy Catholic College and The Henry Lawson High School,

Young High School's James Brown said he was particularly pleased with the Year 7 and 8 students for having a go as the event is targeted at Year 9 and 10 students. 

Young High School students were grouped into teams which were then assigned to challenges.

Most teams completed two challenges on the day. The exception to this were the bridge team and the Eco-Habitech team.

These challenges require more time to plan and complete and so are run as full day challenges.

The Young High School bridge team was comprised of three year 10 students and the High School's Eco-Habitech team was made up of one Year 10 student and two Year 7 students. 

"Events such as this one provide a great opportunity for students interested in science and engineering," Mr Brown said.

"It lets the students spend the day completing hands on challenges with a real world focus. The challenges are well run by volunteers from the Rotary Club of Young and it's hosted by the University of Newcastle. It's also great fun and our students (and I) had a great time."

Young High School placed fourth overall, with Mr Brown saying is a good start as this gives them something to improve on next year.

In the highly contested bridge building event, Young High School placed third. The bridge they constructed weighed 91 g and supporting a dynamic load of approximately 6 kg Mr Brown said unfortunately, our bridge failed the final test run, which was a 9 kg dynamic load.

The event organisers were impressed that three bridges constructed on the day made it to the 9 kg load called the 'bridge buster'," Mr Brown said.

Only Boorowa Central School's bridge survived the bridge buster and they won the bridge build event.

Young High School has taken part in the annual event for the last ten years, has taken part in the event for over 10 years and plan to enter again next year.

Mr Brown said they hope many of the Year 9, 8 and 7 students will return again next year to build on this year's experience.