Trebuchet Events:
The trebuchet event is open to students in grades K-20 and divided into two divisions based on age.
Participants build a trebuchet and launch projectiles at a target from a distance determined by event coordinators.
Hoplite Division
- The Hoplite division is open to students in grades K-8. Teams of students work together to build a trebuchet using a provided kit. On competition day, they launch their trebuchets in McAlister Fieldhouse.
Centurion Division
- The Centurion division is open to middle, high school, and university students as well as adults. These teams will design and build trebuchets within the confines of the stated rules. They will launch their trebuchets on The Citadel parade grounds.
Bridge Competition
The bridge competition is open to middle and high school students. Participants are challenged to make a bridge using only craft sticks and glue and are tested to see how much weight they can bear.
For the bridge competition, middle and high school teams must make a bridge constructed from only two materials: wooden craft sticks and carpenter’s wood glue.
Water Bottle Rockets
On competition day, participants will launch their rockets across the parade field at The Citadel. Participants will fill their rocket to a water level of their choosing, and place the rocket on the launcher. The rocket will be pressurized to 75 psi and launched. Open to students in grades K-12, participants must re-engineer a plastic water bottle into a rocket that can be pressurized and launched.
There will be a K-8 grade group as well as a 9-12 grade group and winners will be determined by distance traveled down range in a specified direction. Traveling off course (sideways) can be viewed as wasting your rocket’s potential energy.
Engineers Week at The Citadel
Each year The Citadel joins the nation in celebrating National Engineers Week (also referred to as DiscoverE Week). Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1951, National Engineers Week was created to increase public awareness and appreciation of the engineering profession. George Washington, the nation’s first president, has been described as America’s first engineer and land surveyor himself, and was instrumental in establishing an initiative that led to the founding of West Point.
The Citadel has a rich engineering heritage dating back to 1842, making it the fifth oldest engineering school in the United States. Each year during Engineers Week, The Citadel hosts a number of exciting design competitions for teams of Lowcountry elementary, middle and high school students. We invite you to click on the tabs above or icons below to learn more about the Storm The Citadel! Trebuchet Competition, the Robotics Competition and the Bridge Competition hosted by The School of Engineering and the STEM Center of Excellence at The Citadel.