The Day Day Up team has qualified to compete in the national finals of the 14th annual Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC). The team consists of students Nicholas Fu, Hitomi Torng, Charlee Liu and Anita Liu of Oxford Academy, and Boaz Lin from Cypress High School, Lia Tian from Irvine High School and Luke Xie from Northwood High School in Irvine, and Natalie Lin from Whitney High School in Cerritos,The team will face the top rocketry teams from across the country to claim the title of national champion.
The Day Day Up team has qualified to compete in the national finals of the 14th annual Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC). The team consists of students Nicholas Fu, Hitomi Torng, Charlee Liu and Anita Liu of Oxford Academy, and Boaz Lin from Cypress High School, Lia Tian from Irvine High School and Luke Xie from Northwood High School in Irvine, and Natalie Lin from Whitney High School in Cerritos,The team will face the top rocketry teams from across the country to claim the title of national champion. The TARC Final Fly-Off will take place May 14 at Great Meadow in the Plains, V.A., outside of Washington, D.C.
“The students had to revise their rocket design three times, take 16 early-morning trips to test their rockets at the launching sites that are more than 100 miles away from home, and fly the rockets for 80 times for this year’s challenge,” said Dr. Tim Fu, the team advisor and a receiver of the Asian American Engineer of the Year Award in 2014 who works as a senior software development manager at Siemens PLM Software. “These innovative kids have gained experience with product life cycle, problem-solving, and team work. I’m very proud of what they have achieved.” Besides the technical advisory provided by Dr. Fu, Siemens PLM Software sponsors the Day Day Up team by providing part of its fund.
TARC is the aerospace and defense industry’s flagship program designed to encourage students to pursue study and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The competition challenges middle and high school students to design, build and fly a rocket that meets specific altitude and flight duration parameters. This year’s rules require a rocket carrying two raw eggs to reach 850 feet before returning the eggs to Earth, uncracked, all within 44 to 46 seconds.
“I have been involved in TARC since 2013, but this is the first year I am the team captain. With members from different grades and different schools, it has been much more eventful and efficient in terms of results this year,” said Nicholas, a junior at Oxford Academy. “The TARC program has empowered me to lead some STEM activities. The hands-on experience from this program would definitely help me achieve my goals as the Engineering Director of STEM at my school.”
Anita, the only junior high student in the team, said “starting from my first meeting, I was taught the different aspects of rocketry. I was able to experiment with new tools to create rocket parts, and contribute everything I could to the team. Now I feel more confident in my STEM abilities.” Natalie was invited to the team by Nicholas and said “Day Day Up has given me an opportunity to explore the field of aerospace as our team built the rocket together. I learned the importance of experimenting and having many trials in order to modify the rocket to maximize points. The team has also taught me about the importance of teamwork and cooperation. I also discovered that failure is a part of the learning experience and we should embrace it.”
The Day Day Up will compete for more than $100,000 in prizes and scholarships, and the opportunity to represent the United States at the International Rocketry Challenge taking place at the Farnborough Air Show outside of London in July. At the international fly-off, teams from the United Kingdom, France and Japan will face the U.S. champions for the international title.
Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association, the National Association of Rocketry and more than 20 industry partners, TARC is the world’s largest rocket contest. Now in its fourteenth year, TARC has inspired more than 60,000 middle and high school students to explore education and careers in STEM fields. This year, 789 teams representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands designed and built model rockets in hopes of qualifying for the National Finals.
For more information about TARC 2016, please visit www.rocketcontest.org.
