UEHS seniors Adriana Murphy and Hunter Bell are enrolled in the Broome-Tioga BOCES New Visions Engineering program, where students had the opportunity to work in teams on an engineering project in partnership with Lockheed Martin.
The project, GPS4, challenged students to design and build a device capable of launching a projectile accurately at distances of 5, 10, and 15 feet. Teams managed the entire project from start to finish, using a defined list of materials and tools such as 3D printers and a laser engraver. The assignment required detailed documentation, including design requirements, processes, scheduling, testing, calculations, drawings, data analysis, hours worked, and material usage.
Hunter’s team, nicknamed “Cad-tastrophe,” used computer-aided design to model their launcher. Their final build combined elements of a cannon and a crossbow, using rubber bands as strings to propel a ball through a barrel. Adriana’s team, “The ABC’s,” named for the first initials of its members, designed a more traditional catapult to complete the challenge.
Teams earned points based on how accurately they hit each target distance, and Adriana’s and Hunter’s teams tied for second place overall. The project concluded with student presentations to Lockheed Martin engineers and staff, where teams explained their designs, shared lessons learned, and reflected on what they would improve in future projects. The students received strong, constructive feedback from professionals in the engineering field.