Students at École Victoria-Albert School Win 2017 Fluor Engineering Challenge Grant Drawing

April 3, 2017 (Winnipeg, MB) – Students at École Victoria-Albert School are one of ten proud winners of the 2017 Fluor Engineering Challenge grants. Working with limited materials and their imaginations, the students used the engineering design process to build an efficient irrigation design using only cups, tin foil, tape and craft sticks. The winning team won a $1,000 USD from Fluor for École Victoria-Albert School.

The Fluor Engineering Challenge was created to help educators meet the latest standards for science and engineering literacy. This year’s Fluor Engineering Challenge was originally developed by engineers from Fluor’s Manila office in the Philippines as part of the global company’s annual employee competition held in celebration of Engineers Week. With the help of an expert team of scientists and educators from Science Buddies, this employee competition was adapted to provide students the opportunity to experience how real-life engineers design solutions, and to show students first-hand how fun engineering can be.  

Over the course of the month of March students met during class time, recess and noon hour to research and design their irrigation systems. They designed, tested, redesigned and finally created a final submission. The students worked in teams to complete the challenge. École Victoria-Albert School is supported by the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) STEAM/STEM initiative. WSD has two STEAM centres which are currently in their third year of programming. The STEAM Enrichment Centre classrooms invite students from across the division to participate in an experiential learning program focusing on excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math Education. The team “Girls Rule Engineering Team” that won the submission was overwhelmed with the news of their submission being chosen. 

“All the girls agreed that their favorite part was working together to come up with ideas and choose one that they liked the best,” said Renee Sanguin, Inquiry Support teacher at École Victoria Albert School. “They loved that they all got along and never fought about how to build it.”

“The annual Fluor Engineering Challenge, designed by and for employees, has been an important part of Fluor’s 50-year tradition of celebrating Engineers Week,” said Mark Landry, senior vice president and chief Human Resources officer for Fluor Corporation.  “Thanks to our innovative partnership with Science Buddies, we’re pleased to be able to share this fun and engaging resource with students across the globe to provide a glimpse into this rewarding and thought-provoking profession.”

To learn more about this year’s Fluor Engineering Challenge and see winning scores from all of this year’s participants, visit http://www.sciencebuddies.org/fluor-challenge.

Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) is a global engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction and maintenance company that designs, builds and maintains capital-efficient facilities for its clients on six continents. For more than a century, Fluor invests in programs that inspire and prepare students to excel in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects and disciplines and is committed to the development of our next generation workforce. Since 2013, more than 400,000 primary and secondary-aged students have received nearly 8 million hours of STEM training and enrichment made possible through Fluor’s financial and employee volunteer support of community organizations. To learn more visit www.Fluor.com or follow on Twitter @FluorCorp .

WSD was established in 1871 and currently has 78 schools, 33,000 students and 6,000 employees. Its purpose is to provide a learning environment that fosters the growth of each student’s potential and provide equitable opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary for meaningful participation in a global and diverse society.

Media contacts:

Fluor
Brian Mershon, (864) 281-6484, brian.mershon@fluor.com
Brett Turner, (864) 281-6976, brett.turner@fluor.com

Winnipeg School Division
Radean Carter (204) 789-0412, rcarter@wsd1.org

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