Hayes Family Science Competition Brings ‘Waves’ of Innovation to Scranton

Numerous University of Scranton students, faculty and staff members assisted in organizing, executing and scoring the annual Hayes Family Science Competition on April 16.

One of the most popular and interactive events held each year at the University, this year’s competition attracted nearly 200 registered high school students from Berwick, Carbondale, Crestwood, Delaware Valley, Dunmore, Hazleton Area, Honesdale, Lackawanna Trail, North Pocono, Scranton, Scranton Prep, Wallenpaupack and West Scranton.

In addition to learning key physics and engineering principles, the high school students applied their knowledge to compete for trophies and medals. Prizes were awarded to the teams that recorded the highest scores in the events corresponding to the theme, “Waves.” These events included a quiz and Jeopardy-style game show, as well as competitions focused on frequency, temperature and buoyancy, among other concepts.

The Hayes Family Science Competition’s signature event took place in the Byron Center, where everyone gathered to watch a student-programmed robot play Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” on a guitar. The guitar was built by the department’s senior laboratory engineer Majid Mokhtari.

“We built a ‘to-scale’ guitar, two times the size of a regular guitar, with two robots,” said Patrick Feller ’27, a computer engineering major from Montgomery, New York, who took the lead in the presentation. “One of the arms is plucking the strings while another arm is pressing down the strings onto the frets to create a certain note. …

“It was a lot of fun. They were a pretty nice crowd and I appreciated their enthusiasm about it.”

The overall champion in Division 1 was a team from Delaware Valley, which beat out second- and third-place teams from Scranton and North Pocono, respectively. A team from North Pocono won Division 2, topping teams from Lackawanna Trail and Wallenpaupack.