Eagles Eye 2017

DYNAMICALLY ENGAGED >>
CHCA Students Design and
Build a Living Water Fountain
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy is home to many entrepreneurial ventures. One of CHCA’s
students’ latest endeavors thoughtfully combined engineering, programming, and marketing.
What began as a paper exercise to represent the culmination of a
Fluid Mechanics Unit in AP Physics, CHCA seniors Mikey Taylor,
Johnathan Sequeira, and Adam Rice were tasked to “think like an
engineer” and design a decorative fountain. Applying Bernoulli’s
equation and the fluid flow continuity equation (think back to
your Physics days), they were instructed to detail the velocity,
height, and range of the designed fountain stream. Among other
design constraints, they needed to identify (in the building or
from an external vendor) a source pump with a given volume
flow rate.
They exceeded all expectations and submitted their design of
an animated fountain that would incorporate 97 programmable
jet/valves for creating 3-D artistic fluid images. Moreover, if that
wasn’t enough, these ambitious students asked if they could
create a prototype, and then build it for full-scale installation on
campus. Hence, the school’s first Senior Capstone Project was
born on September 15th, 2016: Animated Fountain Capstone
Engineering Project. They presented their idea to CHCA’s Head
of School Randy Brunk, and were awarded a small amount of
funding to get it up and running.
A team effort.
It wasn’t long into their work that the three students
recognized they needed to expand their team. Taylor, Sequeira,
and Rice were in need of several other support roles to make
their vision become a reality. They enlisted an electronics/
programming team member Sebastian Rodriguez ‘18, teacher
mentor Mr. Adam Cool ‘01, and marketing/fundraising team
member Zachary Gunlock ‘17. They also solicited input from a
local fountain expert Mr. Dave Zambenedetti, Owner/Engineer
of Pond and Lake Inc. The students presented their designs
to Zambenedetti, and he was so impressed by the advanced
design and depth of their knowledge, that he volunteered his
time to collaborate with them to bring the full-scale project
to realization, providing input and sharing his professional
expertise along the way.
Student led, student designed and student built.
Work quickly began on creating the prototype. On a
‘shoestring budget’ and within a very short timeframe, these
students leveraged their expertise, materials, and a great
amount of concept testing to get the fountain running
properly, and as designed. This decorative fountain is an
“animated fountain” with “jumping” jets around the perimeter
and “dancing” jets in the interior. The prototype is up and
running beautifully.
“Knocking it out of the park!”
In the course of incorporating this system, Zambenedetti
shared that these students “knocked this one out of
the park!” He was so thoroughly impressed that he has
been sharing his experience with counterparts across the
country. He has shown their videos, stating, “…they can’t
believe that high school students can and did do this! It’s very
impressive.” Furthermore, Zambenedetti has been observing
some of the features (lattice system, basin design) and noting
that they could be useful approaches to their displays at Home
and Garden shows (ease of portability/set-up). He added,
“These kids are extremely creative and innovative! No other
school is doing what you guys are doing.”
Moving forward…
How is this possible? CHCA has been fostering a culture
of innovation, inspiring young people to dream big, think,
and create. Born out of our FIRST (For the Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics program
(Beak Squad 4028, State Champions, and World-Ranked),
these robotics student leaders translated the technical skills
and soft skills back into the classroom, elevating the level of
instruction. CHCA’s former Upper School Science Department
Head and AP Physics Teacher Dr. Lu Taylor* shared, “The
animated fountain is a tangible manifestation of our students’
wholehearted engagement and courageously creative spirit to
apply their science/technology education to tackle real world
problems. They are truly inspired.”
Taylor also shared her vision for CHCA students and families
moving forward. What will hopefully be located outside
of CHCA’s New Research and Innovation Center (coming
2018), “…the full scale fountain will be foundational for
future programs across all grade levels. Once this prototype
becomes a reality, this is truly just the beginning. A science and
innovation tool, students of all ages will be able to engage with
it thematically, incorporating art, shapes, fluid flow, technology,
and so much more.” Families and visitors will be able to benefit
from this animated fountain as well - a truly inspirational,
innovative, and educational endeavor for the entire community.
*Best wishes and blessings to Dr. Taylor in her retirement! She will be
missed!
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