High school students in California recently worked with the U.S. Air Force to design solutions to protect wildlife around Air Force runways.

Students Solving Problems

Students present their concepts during the Phoenix Spark STEAM event at Travis Air Force Base, California
Students present their concepts during the Phoenix Spark STEAM event at Travis Air Force Base, California; Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth Abbate

Student solutions for the Air Force were presented at Travis Air Force Base as part of the Phoenix Sparks STEAM Event. According to Interesting Engineering, a total of seven participating student teams presented their ideas to a panel of judges, which included local educators, community leaders, and Air Force personnel.

One of the problems students were tasked with solving is how to safely relocate endangered California tiger salamanders away from a busy runway on base.

While one team designed a realistic robot snake to drive salamanders away, another team suggested using citronella-scented sponges as a natural remedy for driving the animals away. Other ideas included PVC piping systems to give them a safe path or vibrating metal stakes as another means of driving them gently away.

The second problem the students had to solve was how to make Air Force careers more appealing to young people. These students focused on communication efforts, with some designing cartoon-style books about Air Force jobs while others developed social media ad campaigns.

In the salamander problem, one of the winning teams combined vibrating stakes with alternate animal routes, which the judges viewed as simple and eco-friendly. In the recruitment challenge, the winning team combined digital marketing with clear messaging regarding a variety of Air Force careers.

Judah Schoenrock, a Deanza High School Air Force Junior ROTC program member, said, “People think the Air Force is just planes and pilots. I think it’s important to show that you can do many different jobs.”

Military leaders and teachers both agreed that the event was valuable as it allowed students to learn to work on real-world problems with limited resources.

“It builds on the students’ understanding that they can do something beyond just the classroom,” said Carlos Montanez, a retired Navy officer who teaches at Turlock High School.