Washington Technology Student Association

Technology Student Association (TSA) members nationwide participated in the 2010 National TSA Conference in Baltimore, Maryland from June 28 to July 2, at the Baltimore Convention Center, the Hilton Baltimore Hotel and the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor Hotel. Student members competed in more than 60 competitive events based on principles and concepts learned through activities during the school year in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. The conference recognized the technological future of its members with the theme “TSA: Tomorrow’s Leaders.”

High school and middle school technology students, guided by their chapter advisors, prepare throughout the school year to compete with their peers in STEM events such as Agriculture and Biotechnology, CAD, Construction Challenge, Cyberspace Pursuit, Dragster Design, Engineering Design, Flight Endurance, Medical Technology, Promotional Graphics, Robotics and Transportation Modeling. Nearly 2,000 TSA members participated in the TSA Leadership Academy, which was sponsored by the Edison Venture Fund and Wiley Publishers. The TSA Leadership Academy was designed to develop and enhance leadership skills through customized sessions for middle and high school students and teachers, graduating seniors and chapter and state TSA officers. Leadership academy attendees also enjoyed watching the Baltimore Orioles take on the Oakland Athletics at Camden Yards Stadium on June 30th. Other activities included special interest sessions presented by industry representatives and educators and the annual TSA business meeting whereby national student officers were elected. The newly elected 2010/2011 national TSA officer team includes: Zachary Barnes as President, Austin Tatum as Vice President, Pratyusha Gupta as Secretary, Julie Davis as Treasurer, Chip Bollendonk as Reporter and Chris Collins as Sergeant-At-Arms.

The opening general session, held on Tuesday, June 29th, featured a keynote speech by Mr. Brian Fiese, co-founder of Motivated Proformance Inc, and professional speaker with a background in education, training, marketing and management. TSA partners with The American Cancer Society (ACS) for its national service project, and conference attendees took part in the TSA/ACS Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back commemorative event. Chapters and states were recognized for their ACS fundraising efforts throughout the year.

TSA , with partner IFI (Innovation First International), conducted the inaugural TSA VEX Robotics "Swept Away" championship. The VEX Robotics Design System and competitions offer students an exciting platform for learning about areas rich with career opportunities spanning science, technology, engineering and math.   Washington TSA was well represented in this competition by Stanwood High School.  They took 3^rd Place in this event and the Team Excellence Award for the TSA/ VEX Championship.

Washington TSA did extremely well in this year’s competitions.  We congratulate all of our conference attendees on their efforts and look forward to an even better showing next year.  Here is the complete list of Washington State’s Placers. 

CAD Architecture w/ Animation

1^st Place Jacob Schwehr, Eisenhower High School

CAD Engineering w/ Animation

5^th Place Sam Zimmerman, North Kitsap High School

Career Comparisons

4^th Place Daniel Yoo, Henry M. Jackson High School

Construction Systems

7^th Place Henry M. Jackson High School

Flight Endurance

10^th Place Issac Dodge, White River High School

Imaging Technology

2^nd Place Lindsey Bottman, Cedarcrest High School

On-Demand Video

3^rd Place Cascade High School

Structural Engineering

10^th Place  Henry M. Jackson High School

VEX Robotics

3^rd Place Stanwood High School