He is focused and determined, yet he is well aware of his surroundings.  Sophomore Cameron Chrest carefully modifies his robot for the upcoming competition.

Being part of the Huntley High School Engineering Academy for 2 years now has taught Chrest many of the essential aspects of engineering.  He and his Principles of Engineering classmates are getting their robots ready for a competition on March 3 at Huntley High School.  According to Chrest, their goal is to gain points by shooting balls into buckets or moving them into a certain area using their robots.

“I like building and creating things,” said Chrest.  “Engineering allows me to see how things work.  I would like to go to a good engineering school to pursue a broader field in engineering.  I like airplanes so I guess I could work at a place like Boeing to help them with their designs.”

According to Principles of Engineering teacher Amanda Henk, this class is the second out of four Project Lead the Way courses.  The first is Introduction to Engineering Design, the third is Civil Engineering and Architecture, and the fourth is Aerospace Engineering.  All four of these are part of the Engineering Academy.  Students are required to take certain courses which count as points towards their high school transcript designation.

“We have a lot of different courses which allow students to pick and choose which engineering path they prefer to go at,” said Henk.  “Some people are technical artists or technical sketchers and like working on the design side.  Some people really enjoy the computer science aspect of it, so it really depends on what they want to do.”

According to Henk, Engineering Week took place Feb. 21-27.  Many students posted their engineering designs on social media and share their ideas with each other.

With the right resources, the Engineering Academy hopes to allow students to find what they want to do in the future.

Sophomore Cameron Chrest poses next to his robot (M. Syed)