Junior Engineering Technical Society
| Topic(s) | Engineering, Science, Technology |
|---|---|
| Advised | Yes |
| Advisor | Ben Warren |
| Execs | President: Danny Zhang
Community Service Co-Directors: Jennifer Huang, Leah Ding Competitions Co-Directors: Geoffrey Zhang, Nicholas Hao Robotics Captains: Aryan Agarwal, Kaushik Akula, Jordan Allen |
| Event(s) | Science Adventure Camp |
| Website | https://www.tamsjets.com |
| Link | |
| tams.jets@gmail.com |
The mission of the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) is to cultivate a passion for science, engineering, and technology. We facilitate and inspire advancements in STEM by encouraging innovative thinking and by bringing the world of technology and engineering to the fingertips of our members. During the school year, we participate in numerous competitions, such as Science Bowl, Science Olympiad, and BEST and FIRST Robotics. In addition, we have an extensive outreach program and many community service projects throughout the year to inspire STEM interest in people of all ages, including, but not limited to SciDemos, Girls' Engineering Club, Science Adventure Camp, and Robotics FLL mentorship. To be quite honest, you should just check out the JETS website. Its creator spent countless hours editing and adding to her baby gem, and it undoubtedly became one of the most aesthetically pleasing of all the club websites.
Competitions
Science Olympiad (SciOly)
Science Olympiad is a middle school and high school team competition. Teams of 15 from a school compete against other teams in 23 challenging science events, that range from engineering to entomology and cover biology, chemistry, physics, and everything in between. TAMS typically hosts tryouts in early September for two teams that will be competing starting in October, at the UT Invitational Tournament in Austin, Texas. Everyone is encouraged to try out, regardless of prior experience.
Science Bowl (SciBowl)
Science Bowl is a middle and high school team competition that is similar to Quizbowl / Academic Decathlon / Whiz Quiz, except all of the questions come from various topics of science. Teams are made up of 5 members with 4 playing at a time. The questions come from biology, chemistry, physics, earth and space science, energy, and math fields. Teams race to answer questions using a buzzer system. The TAMS SciBowl coaches are looking for dedicated students who are willing to push themselves past their limits to bring our school's team to nationals. With that being said, Science Bowl is about the journey, not the destination. The rush of adrenaline that kicks in when you hear the question and your hand races towards the buzzer is truly exhilarating, and our goal, along with making nationals, is that you enjoy the experience. Even if you haven't had any prior Whiz Quiz / Academic Decathlon / Quizbowl experience, you can still gain extensive amounts of science-related knowledge by coming to our weekly practices. To make the team, start studying early by reading science textbooks, looking at sample questions, and learning from missed questions. If you feel ready, you can even write your own questions to solidify your familiarity with the question types.
Community Service
SciDemos
SciDemos, currently led by Leah Ding, is an original program in which TAMS students go out to various elementary and middle schools to demonstrate and teach mini-lessons about science, from hoop-gliders to elephant toothpaste, a color symphony to dry ice bubbles. From a completely unbiased point of view, SciDemos is arguably the most fun volunteer opportunity that TAMS has to offer—if you go to TAMS without partaking in it at least once, you cannot call yourself a true TAMSter.
Girls' Engineering Club
GEC, currently led by Jennifer Huang, is an amazing opportunity to get real hands-on experience with mentoring young girls in underprivileged environments who might not otherwise have access to a high-quality education in STEM. These girls are incredibly bright and it's a blast working with them and volunteers every visit. Because the same set of volunteers attend each session, Girls' Engineering Club is the one of the best opportunities to develop a close bond with kids.
Science Adventure Camp
Science Adventure Camp's mission is to kindle a passion for science for underprivileged kids in the Denton area. Both the Spring and the Summer Adventure Camps are amazing opportunities for volunteers and campers alike, with a student-led, interactive afternoon camp packed with science, activities, and fun. Due to COVID-19, however, SAC was cancelled for the 2019-2020 school year. Legends say that the community service co-directors are hoping to put together a virtual Science Adventure Camp...
STEM Boxes
Every year, JETS donates boxes full of experiments and materials to local libraries for kids to check out, literally! These boxes are assembled by our very own JETS members, containing experiments related to a common theme. They're a great way for kids to have fun learning science at home. If you are interested in learning more, contact Jennifer Huang or Leah Ding!
SciVids
SciVids was initiated in August 2020 as JETS' newest volunteer opportunity, in collaboration with the TAMS Research Organization. Volunteers will have the chance to perform experiments, teach science topics, design and edit videos, and provide a fun science outlet for hundreds of kids who are stuck at home. Check out the videos that volunteers have made in Fall of 2020:
- Surface Tension - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhdW_Pe47zo
- Forces and Magnetism - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idvWpo_hU04
- Weather Cycles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W75P-FekDRE
- Biology - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbKQHJgEJxI
- Forces and Motion - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkCwF_UUX2c
- Earth Sciences - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-rZ59B0wPI
- Light - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba7NJP8giho
General Assemblies
The JETS GAs, or General Assemblies, are some of the most gratifying, hands-on GAs you'll ever encounter. (Another reason why JETS is the king of all clubs.) Meetings typically consist of the latest announcements, a brief engineering lesson plan, and a fun contest to see who builds the best design based on set criteria. Everything will be online for the 2020-2021 school year; however, a little spiky round boi doesn't dare take away from the fun that is known as JETS GAs.
The Boardroom
The boardroom is a "closet" shared by JETS and Robotics, located inside Mac and filled with various supplies—ranging from dish soap to robotics tools, from yarn to bicycle wheels—that we use for competitions, volunteering, robotics builds, and GAs. If you would like to borrow something from the boardroom, message a current JETS exec and they'll perform live magic to unlock the mysterious door!
The Boardroom Cleanout
Let's be real: who actually organizes their closet every week? Not us. Every year, the messiness in the boardroom starts piling up. So it's no surprise that the JETS board does a deep clean of its beloved closet from year to year. To show you what the experience is like, the 2020-2021 exec board filmed a quick vlog of their experience cleaning up after the mess left behind by the 2019-2020 board (love you)!
Execs
2020-2021
President: Danny Zhang
Community Service Co-Directors: Jennifer Huang, Leah Ding
Competitions Co-Directors: Geoffrey Zhang, Nicholas Hao
Robotics Captains: Aryan Agarwal, Kaushik Akula, Jordan Allen
2019-2020
President: Helen Xia
Community Service Co-Directors: Steven Yao, Tanya Roysam
Competitions Co-Directors: Satya Suravaram, Avi Gupta
Robotics Captains: Aishwarya Mitra, Pranav Ebburu, Shaurya Kumar