Sacramento State students Seitu Barron, Kenyeon Barnett, and Darina Palacio launched a model glider designed for the Boeing Flight Competition in Anaheim last month, but they weren?t sure they could beat competing teams from other colleges.

They launched their creation twice and the glider soared through the air quickly and cleanly each time, but so did a few other competing planes. While the judges measured the distances and made their decision, the Sac State team waited with anticipation.

In the end, their glider flew the farthest?111 feet and seven inches?earning them the grand prize of $1600 for the 2003 competition.

?I thought we were going to place at least,” said team leader Seitu Barron, a senior mechanical engineering major. ?But I didn?t know we were going to do as good as we did.”

The competition (which was from March 19-23 this year) is held every year at a nationwide convention for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Barron is the only member from this year?s campus team who competed last year.

“(Last year), it took about two and a half months to work on it,” said Barron. ?But once you have a template to work off of, it?s not a lot of work. We put about four weeks in (this time).”

His experience was a handy addition for the most recent competition.

“I was the team leader because I had experience from last year. I had a lot of ideas in my head, so I set the parameters for testing so we could work it out.”

Still, the experience didn?t eliminate all the anxiety. He admits he was a bit intimidated by UCLA, who won last time and set the record of 168 feet.

Teammate Darina Palacio, a freshman civil engineering major, helped with the construction and the writing of the report. She didn?t let the competitive environment keep her from feeling a sense of camaraderie with her fellow engineering students.”I was excited about beating other top notch schools,” she said. “We all tried to be very community oriented. We (came from) different schools, but we?re still (all) the NSBE.”

The third member of the Sac State team, junior Kenyeon Barnett, another civil engineering major, tried to create a lighthearted rivalry with competitors.

“I tried to start a rivalry,” he admitted. “But it didn?t work.”

Their glider, constructed from a single sheet of Balsa wood, was launched with a rubber band and carried a payload of two quarters. They kept the wingspan short to help their creation fly like a jet.

“We had a basic design,” said Palacio. “The template we used was pretty good. Most of the other planes had paint on (them) and extravagant things they didn?t really need.”

Barnett designed the plane and cut the pieces from the Balsa wood, and Palacio helped with the construction. She also helped write the report, which caught the judges? attention for clarity and good writing. Casi Chandler, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, also helped as a fourth member of the team.

The teammates plan on going to graduate school once they complete their undergraduate degrees, and they feel that the win will look great on their resumes.

“The sky?s the limit,” said Barnett.

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