Long Island Students Test Their Model Vehicles At BNL's Maglev Contest

Long Island middle school students test their model Maglev vehicles with the help of Marty Woodle (left) and Bruce Lein (center, end of track), engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. Over 200 students from 15 school districts in Nassau and Suffolk Counties entered the eleventh Annual Middle School Magnetic Levitation Contest held at Brookhaven Lab. Maglev, the suspension, guidance and propulsion of vehicles by magnetic forces, was invented and patented in 1968 by Brookhaven Lab scientists Gordon Danby and James Powell, who are now retired.

Brookhaven Lab, Hofstra University Center for Technology Education, the Long Island Technology Association, the Nassau Technology Association, and the Suffolk Technology Education Association sponsored the contest. Following specific engineering guidelines, the students designed and built model vehicles. Four different propulsion systems were used to determine the fastest and most efficient vehicles, while other vehicles were judged on their appearance. Winners in each of seven categories received trophies.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies. Brookhaven also builds and operates major facilities available to university, industrial, and government scientists. The Laboratory is operated by Brookhaven Science Associates, a partnership led by Stony Brook University and Battelle, a nonprofit applied science and technology organization.

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