Archive: Around Town

With their luggage made heavier by a couple of tall trophies, student teams from DeWitt Middle School and Ithaca High School (IHS) returned home on Thursday night from the national Technology Student Association (TSA) conference in Dallas.

The conference took place from June 28 to July 2. It involved 65 competitive events, from computer animation to medical technology to CO2-propelled dragster racing.  Over 7,000 students from 49 states and several countries participated.

DeWitt's David Cheng brought home the Ithaca teams' biggest prize, taking first place in the Promotional Design event.  His winning design was of a lapel pin representing TSA in the state of New York.  "I tried to highlight as many symbols of the state as possible in the small space," says Cheng.  "I put Niagara Falls on the west side, Mount Marcy on the east, and the Empire State building dividing the pin in the middle, with an apple with a bite out of it in the background."  In addition to the pin design itself, judges also credited Cheng's supporting documentation, which explained his approach and design process.


Cheng describes the mounting drama leading up to the announcement of his win on the conference's last day.  "First they name all the top ten finishers all together, without saying the order.  Then they announce the third-place and second-place winners.  I really started wondering at that point, but I knew that seven others besides me could have won.  I was really happy when they called my name!"

Cheng's DeWitt teammates Tilden Chao, Felix Shi, and Joseph Yoon finished third among 75 teams competing in the Tech Bowl event, which has a quiz-show format.  Collectively, DeWitt and IHS students earned 11 top-ten finishes.

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