Siloam juniors take first place in Industrial Engineering Challenge
Caroline Dinger and Moritz “Mo” Hayler, both juniors at Siloam Springs High School, created an optimal theme park design and won first place in the senior high division of the Industrial Engineering Challenge 2017.
The event was held on April 8 and sponsored by the Bell Engineering Center at the University of Arkansas.
Students who participated in the competition were challenged to create a theme park using the RollerCoaster Tycoon app, taking elements such as park layout, personnel management and net profit into consideration, said teacher Jennifer King. Students then created a presentation about their theme park, complete with their
recorded voices, for the judges. An on-site competition and written test were also part of the competition.
Dinger and Hayler received a trophy, certificate and $600 cash prize for their first place award.
Hayler, who is a foreign exchange student from Germany, explained that their theme park was awarded for having the optimal design with the best layout and the best financial performance.
Dinger said the competition opened her eyes to the possibilities in the field of industrial engineering. She explained that she learned that in addition to mechanical design, industrial engineers also have to consider financial performance, principals of layout and other commonsense elements such as not putting a hamburger restaurant right next to a giant roller coaster.
Dinger said she is planning a career in engineering and had a great time touring the university’s engineering campus. Hayler said the experience gave him a chance to meet new people and make new friends.
King said this is the first year that Siloam Springs students have participated in the university’s Industrial Engineering Challenge. She presented the students with the opportunity to sign up earlier in the year. Hayler and Dinger were ultimately the only students who were interested in the challenge. They worked on the project outside of class and did a lot of research to prepare themselves for designing the theme park, she said.
King said that Hayler and Dinger were very selfmotivated and did a great job of collaborating on the project.
“I left everything up to them,” she said.
The students submitted their theme park design and presentation in February, King said. At the competition they were given another simulated design challenge with 362,880 possible solutions. The students received 30 percent of their points for their theme park design, 20 percent of their points for their on-site challenge and 50 percent of their points for the written test, she said.