May 24, 2018 By Jacob Calvin Meyer staff Writer jmeyer@thealmanac.Net 4 min read

During the school day May 22 at Mt. Lebanon High School, students had the opportunity to sit in the middle of a hallway and play video games.

To most students, it was probably a rare opportunity between classes or during study hall to play old Atari and Nintendo video games, arcade-style.

The handful of mini arcade machines were part of the Honors Applied Engineering class annual “Guppy Tank” competition, which is a spinoff of alumnus Mark Cuban’s television show “Shark Tank.” The arcade project was one of about two dozen projects showcased by the students in the 12 engineering classes.

“This is what we’re trying to aim for right now: collaborative efforts,” said engineering teacher Andrew Kuskil. “We know in Applied Engineering that we’re typically the big thinkers and we need help from other classes to do these projects. We can’t do this all on our own.”

The arcade project was worked on by four classes other than the engineering students, including computer science, graphics, IT and woodshop students.

“This is a major project,” Kuskil said. “We couldn’t do it alone, so we had to outsource. The most beneficial thing that the students came to realize is the project is massive. We need to have other departments taking care of the artwork, the networking, the wiring, the coding and the engineering.”

Grace DiCola, a sophomore who worked on the design of the arcades in her graphics class, said the students spent a significant amount of time on the project.

“We spent a lot of time over the last few weeks especially,” DiCola said, “We haven’t been in lunch in two weeks because we’ve been (working) during lunch. … We enjoyed doing it.”

The arcade wasn’t the only innovative project at the competition, though. One group created a standing desk prototype that has peaked the interest of a professional vendor. Maggie Diane McBroom Steighner, director of internship development from Northwestern Mutual’s Cranberry office, was at the event to talk to students about using the standing desks for her interns.

Another group of students, seniors Anthony Lessa, Cody Meier and Christian George, created a “smart mirror.” The mirror has a computer behind it that shows through the mirror so people can get their news or see the weather while getting ready in the morning.

Other projects included a water turbine, superhero-themed door knobs and desk handles, a high-top table and a candy dispenser. Students in attendance voted for several different awards, including best overall, most innovative and best display.

Kuskil said the project gives students a taste of what the “real world” will be like.

“Some of the students get very frustrated because there isn’t a right answer and there isn’t a wrong answer,” said Kuskil, who is in his eighth year at Mt. Lebanon. “They’re trained to find the right answer … but in this class we try to say that there are multiple right answers.”

The amount of technology provided to students is the main factor, Kuskil said, why his engineering classes and Guppy Tank have grown in recent years.

“I think we’re surrounded by so much technology,” Kuskil said. “The students are talked to about engineering and STEM and maker spacing. With this (project), they’re actually physically doing something and they can see their progress.”

Cameron Van Deusen, a junior who worked on the graphics and design of the arcade project, said the competition is good for students because even though it was difficult work, it was different than the normal school work students do in most classes.

“This definitely became a relaxing thing for me,” she said. “During the day, I’m very stressed with school and being able to relax and just paint and do what we wanted to was really helpful.”