In October 2004, Mr. Robert
Franz, the LAAE advisor, assigned Giselle Obregon to the
task of forming one team that she believed could meet the
challenge of the new BYDV assignment to create a car that
was “so hot it could make your eyes sweat.” Having one team
would mean that it would be a greater concentration of truly
talented students. Last year, there were three teams, dispersing
the talent and ability, and not one made it to the national
finals competition. Finally, a coalition of two seniors,
Michael Sanora and Leonardo Micolta; five juniors, Richard
Westbrook, Helena Xu, Kari Wong, Chris Liu, and Giselle
Obregon; and two sophomores, Ann Chong and Desiree Magat,
was formed to be Dynamic Innovations 2004-05.
The
first task in the competition was to submit a report containing
the main components of the competition- model pictures,
Finance, Engineering, Ergonomics and Safety, and Marketing.
Out of 320 entries nation wide, Dynamic Innovation was one
of the 20 teams that advanced to the semi-finals where each
team was required to submit a video with the overall presentation
of the car with presenters. Out of the 20 semi-finals team,
Dynamic Innovations was one of the 8 teams that advanced
to the finals competition in Detroit, Michigan. Leo Micolta,
Giselle Obregon, Kari Wong, Chris Liu, and Helena Xu were
among the five students that went to Detroit in May along
with Assistant Principal Tami Pearson and Drama Department
Mr. Fox. Before the national finals, the team practiced
and worked together to rehearse the speech, compose the
brochure, and finish the model.
The team arrived on May 24th
in Detroit where they again prepared for the next day where
they would finally be able to present the final completion
of the project they had worked all year on. On the last
day of the competition, the judges announced the winners
of the competition. Out of the 8 final national teams and
320 entries, Dynamic Innovations won 1st place with the
grand prize of $6,000.00. The team could not have been so
successful if it was not for the support of the parents
and benefactors of LAAE. Thanks to Mitch and Nikki Kodama
for their generous competition and help with the presentation.
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