Minority middle school students from across the state were given a chance to show their talents in the Minority Engineering Quiz Bowl Competition held Saturday afternoon on the Iowa State campus.

Nearly 150 minority students from Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Muscatine and Waterloo competed in the sixth annual quiz bowl and miniature, wind-powered vehicle design contest and race.

Jennifer Leslie, coordinator of the Leadership through Engineering Academic Diversity program (LEAD), said the competition is important to minority students because it informs them about engineering career opportunities that are not always advertised to them.

“This competition exposes them to careers in science and technology. A lot of times minority students don’t get that opportunity,” Leslie said.

She said the quiz bowl consisted of questions in math, science, high technology and geography. The students also participated in the “egg roll”— a contest where they used their creativity to design a wind-powered vehicle that could support an egg.

Thirty-two teams competed in the events, and the overall winners were the Cougars from Callanan Middle School in Des Moines.

Leslie said the students “had a blast.” Besides the competition, they had a chance to interact with ISU minority engineering students through a panel discussion, and they heard Matthew Rizai, president of Engineering Animation Inc., give a speech.

Leslie said ISU faculty, staff and engineering students helped volunteer their time to run the event.

“I think it was a great opportunity to get minority students involved in engineering and to show them Iowa State and start helping them prepare for their educations,” Leslie said.