The 2021 Amarillo/Wichita Falls Consolidated Divisional STEM Competition was hosted virtually over Whova and Zoom on Saturday, February 13, 2021. More than 60 student competitors from across the region attended the free event.
Texas students from grades 6-12 competed in teams to solve an all-virtual Engineering Design Challenge. Participants were sworn to secrecy about the Challenge – at least until March 8th, when students across the state had their chance to try their skills solving the same problem. This year’s challenge was developed by engineers from ConocoPhillips.
The Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME) is a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing Texas students to join a strong and diverse STEM workforce. TAME programs encourage students to build skills and explore STEM concepts through hands-on activities, TAME Clubs, and statewide and divisional STEM Competitions.
The top six teams from the Engineering Design Challenge were recognized. One team also received a special Judges’ Choice Award for teamwork and creative problem solving. All students on the top two teams will be invited to participate in the Virtual State STEM Competition on April 24, 2021. Invitations will be sent out in March to students who qualify to participate.
Thanks to the support of TAME’s 2021 Statewide STEM Competition sponsor ConocoPhillips, STEM Competitions across Texas are offered free of charge for all participants. TAME thanks our 2021 Awards Sponsor Halliburton, our Wichita Falls Presenting Sponsor Howmet Aerospace, and our Amarillo Sponsor Xcel Energy.
We are especially grateful to our Event Coordinators, Amarillo Chapter Coordinators Chantal Jones and Dominic Cortez, Wichita Falls Chapter Chair Marcie Williford of Howmet Aerospace, our dedicated TAME Club Sponsors, and the many volunteers from Emerson, Lamar University, Lockheed Martin, Midwestern State University, Rice University, Texas Tech University, The University of Texas at Austin, and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Thank you for celebrating achievement in STEM and making learning fun and exciting for Texas students.
More information on TAME’s annual STEM Competitions can be found here. See more about TAME’s plan for the 2020-21 school year. Want to get involved in planning local and statewide TAME events? Learn more here.
Congratulations to all our hardworking competitors!
A screenshot from the Welcome Ceremony of the 2021 Amarillo/Wichita Falls STEM Competition.
PARTICIPANTS
The following TAME Clubs participated in the event, including three clubs from other chapters who had school-wide technical difficulties at previous events:
| Club Name | TAME Chapter |
| Amarillo TAME Club | Amarillo |
| Ascension Academy | Amarillo |
| Barwise Middle School | Wichita Falls |
| Chillicothe High School | Wichita Falls |
| Crockett Middle School | Amarillo |
| Justin F. Kimball High School | Dallas |
| Kirby World Academy | Wichita Falls |
| McNiel Middle School | Wichita Falls |
| Moody High School | Corpus Christi |
| Rider H.S. | Wichita Falls |
| Tom Browne Middle School | Corpus Christi |
| Wichita Falls High School | Wichita Falls |
ENGINEERING DESIGN CHALLENGE RESULTS
The six top scoring teams were recognized with awards. All students on the top two teams will be invited to participate in the Virtual State STEM Competition on April 24, 2021.
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | 4th Place | 5th Place | 6th Place |
| Team 2 | Team 5 | Team 7 | Team 8 | Team 4 | Team 10 |
| Team: Thunder Cougar Phyre Byrd | Team: Drillologists | Team: The Blizzards | Team: Oilers | Team: People of Intelligence | Team: The Drillers |
| Araceli Hernandez | Lissett Morales | Ashtan Ballew | Aditya Srikanth | Arianna Barker | Emily Kintner |
| Emerson Archer | Lukas Wright | Jacob Perry | Kevin Saisuwan | Dylan Cortez | Jazman Vidaurri |
| Julian Garcia | Maria Clara Cabral | Madeline Wright | Mahdi Kabir | Julianne Williams | Jenacee Cortez |
| Shay Potts | Noah Doley | Maverick McKown | Nathaniel Wright | Rose Blagg | Quan Nguyen |
| Surya Yalamanchili | Rohit Saralaya | Olivia Lockhart | Sidra Sindha | Rowan Parker | Ty Gardner |
| Zachary Parker | Robert Horvath | Tiffany Sparks | Wesley Daniel |
JUDGES’ CHOICE AWARD
Because STEM fields rely on creative problem solving, a Judges’ Choice Award was presented to a team who communicated well to create a strong strategy, and who prioritized creativity and teamwork.
| Judges’ Choice |
| Team 6 |
| Team: Team8s |
| Ava Barrera |
| James Hasson |
| Jessica Rivera |
| Mohammad Saif Garasia |
| Prasi Desai |
Thanks to our Sponsors!
Statewide Sponsor
Statewide Awards Sponsor
Regional Presenting Sponsor
Corporate & Foundation Sponsors
ExxonMobil, Google, Howmet Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Permian Basin Area Foundation, PPG, Rackspace, Silicon Labs, and Xcel Energy
Higher Education Partners
Angelo State University, Odessa College, Texas Tech University, University of Houston, The University of Texas at Austin, and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
