Emphasis is continually placed on the web of fields in STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics, as essentially being the way of the future. Many seek to nurture and grow those who seek a career in these fields.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren is one of those interested parties and has been hosting a yearly contest called the Innovation Challenge since 2022. An invitation-only event, it brings together 35 teams who compete against one another to solve a number of STEM-related challenges, likened by some to the Super Bowl of STEM.

When it was held back in February, a team of three from Westmoreland High School took 3rd place and the $800 that came with it. At last week’s School Board meeting, David Smith got the kids from the team, plus two individuals from Dahlgren, Mr. Dale Sisson and Mr. Parker, to talk about how it went.

“We felt like we were in pretty good shape on Friday, and then on Saturday we had a few stumbles,” explained Smith. “Middle school was participating on Saturday along with high school, so I was going back and forth between teams. A lot of middle schoolers hadn’t participated before, so I had to stay with them a lot. They were very well managed on their own, too. It was about 1:00 during the day that I went to stop and check on our teams, and all I can say is the phrase ‘we’re cooked’ sprang to mind.”

Murphy’s Law had seemingly gone into overdrive. A 3D-printed part made for the competition broke, and there were issues with a motor that caused it to burn up—not exactly a position of strength during a competition. Despite all of this, however, Smith noted that several folks talked about the Westmoreland High team being in high spirits.

“I went back to the middle school team and kept hearing from some of the other people who came for Westmoreland that visited them during their rounds, and it sounded like they were pretty happy,” continued Smith. “They had a lightning round at the end of their first two phases of competition where they had to get as many points as possible with different tasks, including encryption, decoding, and delivering ordinances to different locations on a map under a timeline with their robot.”

After assuming the worst earlier in the day, Smith was quite pleasantly surprised when the awards ceremony came up and he saw the team making it in.

“We have a tendency to underestimate ourselves, so I was really surprised when they came away with third place,” Smith noted. “I was gleaming at that point. I was so proud of these gentlemen for doing such a great job and really persevering. I’m so very proud of them.”

Dale Sisson then chimed in as the vice chair of the Fredericksburg Military Affairs Council, one of the event sponsors.

“I retired last year,” stated Sisson. “I was a Navy executive leading NSWC Dahlgren, so I’m a huge fan of the Innovation Challenges— the stressing environments that it puts you through really map the challenges that these students face on a daily basis. Coming up third is just part of the discovery process. Things don’t always go right in the STEM fields, and by pushing through, you found a solution and brought home third place for Westmoreland High School.”

After pictures of the team were taken, “Mr. Smith, thank you for all your efforts and congratulations to these awesome students,” said School Board Chairman Ralph Fallin.

The team has made it clear that they have ambitions of coming home from next year’s Innovation Challenge with a higher placing.

Photo: R. Burrell