On Feb. 23, Western Reserve Academy sent student teams to the 31st regional Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) TEAMS competition, held at the University of Akron. Although the University of Akron is the nation's largest test center with the keenest regional competition, WRA teams came away with a first-place finish along with two Top 3 finishes.

The team of Michael Lee '12, Monica Mehta '12, Eric Rauckhorst '12, Krista Sandercock '12, Ramya Shah '12, Peter Suwondo '12, Tracy Tien '12 and Albert Wang '12 grabbed a first-place finish in the Grade 9 & 10 division.

The theme of this year's competition, Water, Water Everywhere, taught students how environmental, civil and mechanical engineers are involved in the protection and delivery of the world's water supply. The competition was especially timely as the recent Haiti earthquake has spotlighted one of the world's most pressing problems -- the global water shortage.

The team of Chevonne Anderson '12, Ronan Keane '12, Mitesh Mehta '13, Rebecca Park '12, Blanchard Richardson '12, Nick Sovich '13, Ji Hoo Woo '13 and Zack Zockoll '12 finished second in the Grade 9 & 10 division.

The team of Eun Cho '11, Oliver Curtiss '11, Jack Hoover '11, Jenny Hu '11, Lisa Jung '11, Joseph Marmerstein '11, Bethany Qiang '11 and Chris Tonge '11 finished third in the Grade 11 & 12 division.

JETS has sponsored this one-day competition for more than 30 years. The competition, according to the society, helps high school students discover the practical applications of math and science by solving some of today's greatest engineering challenges. The event is a fun and fast-paced competition that inspires creativity, teamwork, critical thinking and valuable insight into the world of engineering.

There are two parts to the competition -- multiple-choice problems and a free-response problem. Teams are initially scored and given a state ranking based on their multiple-choice results. If a team's state ranking should qualify them for national competition, their free-response problem will be scored to determine a national ranking.

For more information on the competition, visit www.jets.org.

Appearing in the photo - Michael Lee, Monica Mehta, Eric Rauckhorst, Ramya Shah, Krista Sandercock, Peter Suwondo, Tracy Tien, Albert Wang