Long Beach Middle School technology students participated in and nearly swept the Cradle of Aviation Maglev Competition during the week of June 10. Congratulations to Alexey Tutkevich and Axel Zelaya, who took first place, and Keane Mahony, who achieved third place.

The students all entered Category 5 – the highest level of competition. For this challenge, they were required to develop a maglev vehicle that carried pennies (representing passengers) down the track as quickly and efficiently as possible. The winning vehicle was chosen based on a figure of merit equation in which speed is multiplied by the number of passengers carried, then divided by the number of magnets affixed to the vehicle.  

“This forced the students to not only think about aerodynamics but also the cost and efficiency of their vehicle,” said teacher Brian Pross. “Students worked in pairs and utilized many different tools to construct the vehicles and solve problems that they encountered.”