Northwood Odyssey of the Mind competed in a national qualifier on Feb. 12, where five teams of four completed a multiple-choice exam and timed build. 

Teams, each led by an OM board member, spent one hour answering 40 multiple-choice questions on core physics, chemistry and math concepts, before moving on to a building portion, where they had two hours to construct a cantilever bridge using only paper, paper clips and tape. Bridges were evaluated based on requirements such as height, the maximum weight they could support and how long it took them to collapse. Most teams adopted a similar architectural structure consisting of a narrow cylinder attached to a base with a horizontal paper rod projecting from the top. 

“The build portion was awesome because we were together as a team, and we all used different concepts to achieve what we wanted,” club member sophomore Saharsh Kalvoju said. “We were very happy because without everyone in our group, we wouldn’t have succeeded.”

The club prepared for months, completing weekly multiple-choice practice sets that mirrored the official exam, in addition to a research paper under the theme “Engineering in the Past,” where students proposed engineering-based plans to preserve the structural integrity of a historical building. The paper was due on Jan. 13, although the team worked on it since early December.

“I really enjoyed learning about new technologies like lidar scanning,” club president senior Milton Sun said. “For my essay, I remember writing about AI and using it to scan the environment before reconstruction, so we can understand the structure and its surroundings better. I think we did well planning beforehand and being open to researching options before solidifying one idea.”

The top five teams in each category—multiple-choice, build, essay and math modeling—will advance to the national competition in Washington, D.C. in June, where they will compete with other teams from across the country. Results from the national qualifier are expected to be released in early March.

”My favorite part of this competition was the build portion because I really liked hearing everyone’s diverse input,” club treasurer junior Anika Kurup said. “It was a really good event to grow as a team, but also learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses in STEM.”

For more information on the competition or the club, visit @nhs.om on Instagram.