Partners: INTEL PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS Garland Manufacturing Company INSITU ace hardware Complete BUILD TEAM:  Evan, Donny, Ty, Ethan, Jessica, Ginger, Freddy, Randy (Intel Mentor), MRC, Mark (AHS custodian), James (Arlington Parts) INTEL mentor Randy is assisting the honkers in designing and building a piston valve launcher see the WIKI for rules and discussion East Oregonian Article (ONLINE and Print) Times Journal (printed only) click here for a PDF of page 1 of the TJ Statesman Journal  ONLINE Youtube Real men of genius (honkerstyle) slideshow Click HERE (or below)   Fast reload and fire (honker Launcher) CLICK HERE (or below)   FROM THE EAST OREGONIAN ARTICLE Arlington was the overall winner of the engineering challenge, in which nine Oregon schools competed. All the schools worked for three months on the project and got help from Intel technology mentors. The Arlington team won the overall category because of its enthusiasm, teamwork and awesome results, said Intel Community Relations Manager Laura Bain. "They did everything well and went above and beyond everyone else," Bain said. To facilitate collaboration between the teams, Intel set up a wiki program online that allowed students from different schools to interact. "They were very involved on the site," she said. "I got to sit back and watch Arlington jump in and help other schools with their designs or problems they were having." For example, Bain said, Arlington students shared information about certain types of PVC piping that would not hold up under high pressure. Bill MacKenzie, the communications manager for Intel Oregon corporate affairs, visited Arlington High School last month. "The kids are just so incredibly enthusiastic," he said. "They took me out to demonstrate their project, shooting T-shirts and other items out into the football field ... I was just really impressed by their ingenuity." The Arlington team's first launchers shot marshmallows - "They're biodegradable, don't go very far and don't cause a lot of damage," Cunningham said. They experimented with different types of valves and loading mechanisms, eventually settling on a piston valve, as opposed to an earlier version of the launcher that featured a sprinkler valve. To analyze a T-shirt's tumble and impact, they borrowed a camera from Insitu, Inc. that could take 2,000 frames per second. For quick shooting, the team settled on a breach-loaded design, much like a bolt-action rifle. This innovation allowed the team's launcher to be one of the fastest, able to shoot a T-shirt every 10 seconds. "We went through three different prototypes, two of them working with sprinkler valves, and one of them actually blew up on us," said Ethan Weiser, a senior. It was their Intel mentor, Randy Fullman, who helped the team make the leap to a piston valve, Weiser said. "Working with him we all learned that (air) going around 90-degree angles was not the best idea because you create pressure points. A piston valve is better because you force air to shoot out in one direction," Weiser said. Even though the team knew their launcher was one of the better ones, he said, they were still shocked to win. All of the teams got a chance to launch T-shirts into the crowed during the Trail Blazers Friday game with the Los Angeles Clippers. But Arlington, as the winning team, was invited back onto the court during the second time-out in the fourth quarter. "Even if we had lost, it still would have been fun for us," said Ty Davies, a sophomore. Davies said he helped design the launcher and figure out how much air volume was needed to get the T-shirt out of the barrel. The project was so fun, said Davies, and his robotics class was so "amazing," he has even rethought his career plans adding "I think it's actually very possible that I'll get into robotics or engineering."

News Release    CONTACT: Bill MacKenzie Communications Manager Intel Corporate Affairs   503-264-1330  Bill.mackenzie@intel.com  Arlington High School Team Contact: Alan Cunningham, acunning@arlington.k12.or.us, 541-993-2899  ARLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE TRAILBLAZERS AT THE ROSE GARDEN  Students excel with innovative t-shirt launchers at half-time of Trail Blazers game Team wins “Overall Winner” prize HILLSBORO, OR, Dec. 16, 2008 – A team of Arlington High School students got an early Christmas present from Intel and the Portland Trail Blazers, a chance to display their engineering talent from center court of the Rose Garden Arena in front of more than 20,000 screaming fans during half time of a Trail Blazer’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.  The experience was all part of the Intel/Trail Blazers Engineering Challenge.  Modern sports are intrinsically linked to science and engineering. As new technologies are dramatically changing sports, questions are being asked about the absolute limits of human athletic performance and how the newest technologies can make humans run faster, jump higher and be stronger. In this spirit, Intel and the Portland Trail Blazers teamed technology with sports to create the Challenge.   At Intel’s invitation, students from Arlington High School and 8 other Oregon high schools worked hard for the past 3 months to design, engineer and build unique t–shirt launchers. Each Challenge team competing submitted a 2-page paper encompassing 4 areas: process, theories, successes, and how they implemented teamwork.  They were also asked to submit at least 3 photos, and an optional YouTube video.  All the schools came to the Friday, December 12, Trail Blazers game to participate in the Intel/Trail Blazers Engineering Challenge half-time exhibition and meet Oregon Teacher of the Year, Michael Lampert.   After the half-time exhibition, the Trail Blazers honored Lampert with a Trail Blazer jersey and autographed basketball in a Center Court presentation.  As a bonus, the Arlington High School team was invited back out on Center Court during the 4th quarter to join the Intel Trail Blazer Cheerleaders and launch more t-shirts into the crowd.  Intel Oregon employees voted online for the “Overall Winner”, and it was Arlington High School. As the Overall Winner, they will get a trip to Intel Oregon’s facilities in Hillsboro and a class ice-cream party during their visit, plus a plaque for the school.  “Intel wants more students to study math, science and engineering,” said Jill Eiland, Intel Oregon Corporate Affairs Manager. “The Challenge was one way to show them that engineering can be both fascinating and fun.”  “We are always looking for new ways to entertain our audience,” said Todd Bosma, Trail Blazers Director of Game Operations. “Historically, the T-shirt toss is a no-brainer – the never-fail element that gets the fans on their feet and making noise.  I am excited to see the students create new ways to deliver that element to our fans.”  The 9 schools each received Intel grants and tool kits to assist with device construction.  Intel volunteers also worked with the students on their projects through the December launchings.  The Intel volunteers were part of a massive school volunteerism effort by Intel Oregon employees this school year. During the 2007-2008 school year, Intel Oregon employees invested over 60,000 hours of volunteer time in Oregon schools. That volunteerism generated $601,000 dollars for Oregon schools under Intel’s volunteer matching grant program which provides $200 to a school for every 20 hours of Intel employee volunteerism.  Intel Oregon, with 15,000 employees, is the anchor tenant of Oregon’s economy and a global center of semiconductor research and development. Learn more about Intel Oregon at www.intel.com/community/oregon  Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom and blogs.intel.com.                                                                        -30-