B.C. students compete in UBC Physics Olympics

More than 600 high school students from across B.C. took part in the University of British Columbia’s 45th annual Physics Olympics Saturday.

Teams go head-to-head in six events, including labs and “Quizzics,” a quiz-show style competition. Adam Quiring is a Physics and Engineering teacher at Howe Sound Secondary and says his students hope to pursue careers in sciences and mechanics. He notes he also competed in the competition when he was in high school.

“It’s one thing for students to be engaged in their courses within their school but as soon as you get to step outside of your school and see that other students are tackling similar problems and see that there’s interest in these subjects and in these sort of competitions beyond just what your teachers are telling you about, it becomes more real,” Quiring said.

Among the students from Quiring’s school are four Grade 12 students who have created a vacuum pump from scratch while following the rules given to them by the UBC Physics Olympics committee. Competing students show off their “building challenge” and get scored on their creative solutions and their effectiveness.

“You always have a sense coming into the competition of where your strengths and weaknesses are, but you don’t really find out for sure until you get to see what all the other teams have brought to the table,” Quiring said.

Students create a floating device with a phone attached to record the boat’s total race time. The “marine ambulance” is one of the six events included in UBC’s Physics Olympics. (Angela Bower/CityNews)

Other competitions include building a “marine ambulance”- a device that floats on water and moves to the opposite side of the track. It comes with a phone attached to record the boat’s total acceleration during the race.

“This event is about doing physics in a fun way, but most importantly to work with others, and being inspired by creativity,” said lead organizer Marina Milner-Bolotin.

The UBC Physics Olympics aims to inspire students to enter a career in science, coining itself as one of the largest and longest-running high school physics competitions in North America.

Milner-Bolotin says the event helps students explore the possibilities of a career in science.

“It’s not about figuring things out on paper. It’s about doing things. The more they can go and experience this firsthand, the better they can see the people who do it. The more they see the passion, then they can form a better view of what they want to do in the future.”