AIChE Group Tests Their Knowledge
It seems the freshman curriculum can still challenge some of the smartest students at Northeastern.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) student chapter at Northeastern sponsored the ‘Are you smarter than a freshman?’ competition, which was held in Snell Engineering during activities period Thursday afternoon. ‘ ‘
The competition was based on the television game show ‘Are you smarter than a 5th grader?’ and was originally designed for upperclassmen in the engineering major to compete against their freshman counterparts, but a scheduling conflict caused the freshman teams to be unable to compete. ‘ ‘
‘The freshman curriculum for engineers is strict; everybody takes the same courses no matter what major you are, so we thought it would be fun to test everyone on the curriculum,’ said Emma Chory, sophomore chemical engineering major and vice president of the Northeastern AIChE chapter. ‘ ‘ ‘
Participants in the competition ranged from sophomores to seniors, each competing in teams of three. The six teams competed in five rounds of questioning, each round ending with the elimination of one team.
‘The original plan [of the competition] was to get all freshmen more involved with the student engineering programs,’ Chory said.
The questions were thought of by AIChE executive board members, and the competition was judged by Chory, the highest-ranking AIChE member present. Questions included topics ranging from computer programming to calculus.
AIChE plans to continue the competition next spring, and to work around any scheduling conflicts so freshmen can be more involved, Chory said. ‘ ‘
The competition lasted for more than an hour and was held in a classroom on the third floor of the Snell Engineering Building.’ Around 25 students attended, most of whom were participants in the game. The winning team was awarded three $10 gift certificates to the university bookstore. ‘ ‘
‘I think it is a good chance to see how much we retained,’ said Anthony Fusco, a sophomore chemical engineering major.’ ‘
Fusco’s team won the competition, but he said he believes they would have lost if they were competing against freshmen.
‘It might have been fun to compete against freshmen, but less competition is never a bad thing,’ said Dylan Laird, sophomore chemical engineering major.
Laird’s team was eliminated in the fourth round. ‘ ‘
Fusco’s teammate, sophomore chemical engineering major Tom Dusseault, said the competition was more about the pride than the prize money. ‘ ‘
‘We plan to buy candy with the prize money,’ Dusseault said.