St Mary's Gateshead win Silver Cup

St Mary's College Gateshead have taken out the Silver Cup at the Science and Engineering Grand Challenge after day one of the event hosted by USQ today (Wednesday October 17 2007).

The school from New South Wales beat seven other schools from across Australia to win the title following a day of competition at the University.

Science and Engineering Challenge Regional Chair Harry Spencer congratulated the school and said that they were deserving winners.

'St Mary's College Gateshead proved today to have some brilliant young scientific and engineering minds and they performed exceptionally well here today,' Mr Spencer said.

'All of the other schools also performed well however and gave St Mary's Gateshead some tough competition.'

After testing themselves throughout the day, Mr Spencer said that the students were exhausted but had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

'Each of the different activities were designed to test the students and they applied themselves very well,' he said.

'Today was about learning, but it was also about having fun and it was obvious that the students were doing just that.'

St Mary's College Maryborough finished second, Brisbane State High School (BSHS) third, with local Toowoomba school Christian Outreach College (COC) fourth.

'The lead in the Challenge changed throughout the day and it wasn't until the last activity, Gold Fever, that the outcome was decided.

'To have so many smart and enthusiastic students here for the event was a great thrill for all of the organisers.'

The focus of the Science and Engineering Grand Challenge now changes to the Gold Division held tomorrow (Thursday October 18, 2007) after which a national champion will be crowned.

'There are eight schools competing tomorrow for the national title and it promises to be another exciting day for us here at the Challenge,' Mr Spencer said.

USQ and the Rotary Club of Toowoomba East are co-hosting the Science and Engineering Grand National Challenge as part of USQ's 40th anniversary celebrations in 2007.

The Department of Education Science and Training (DEST) are major contributors, while Engineers Australia and Main Roads are also major sponsors with 20 other universities across Australia also involved in the program.

Media Contact: Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 1628