Week 3 this term marked the exciting start of this year’s EPro8 Challenge series at Hillcrest High School. Over the 2 days more than 50 students participated in this Engineering event.
Held during a 2 hours session, students worked in small teams to complete a series of creative and technical challenges using the EPro8 kits. This year the challenges included: An ironing robot, a jack-in-the box and a tennis ball launcher. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to collaborate with their friends, test their problem-solving skills, and have a whole lot of fun in the process. From this event, two junior teams and two senior teams were selected to represent Hillcrest at the interschool competition, hosted at Waikato Diocesan School in Week 8.
The Junior teams were:
The Avocados: Nigel Ng, Tilly Doran, Hannah Duong, Olivia Huber
The Nice Guys: Matthew Hemara, Tokusho Littlewood, Jacob Mudge
Both teams performed exceptionally well, with The Avocados placing 5th and The Nice Guys earning a fantastic 3rd place, securing their spot in the regional Semifinals in Week 9.
Our senior teams also rose to the challenge:
HHS Rats: Kaysie Fong, Kapisha Kalarathan, Taira Littlewood, Bonnie Yuan
Project Dookie: Remco de Bruijn, Jerome Jack, Ethan Travaglia, Rico McFadden
In their evening event, HHS Rats placed 3rd equal, also advancing to the Semifinals, while Project Dookie finished a commendable 7th. The challenges really stepped up requiring teams to build either a Laser tag game, car barrier arm, motorised supermarket trolley or a foosball table. All with aluminum rods, electronics, cogs and motors. The EPro8 Challenge isn’t just about engineering and electronics, it’s about communication, perseverance, and thinking under pressure. These students demonstrated all that and more.
A huge thank you goes to Mr Hopkirk and Mrs Langman for organising and supporting this opportunity for our students.
Looking ahead to 2026, students keen to take part in EPro8 should keep an eye out for the In-School event happening again in Term 2.
Whether you’re into problem-solving, teamwork, or just want to try something new, it’s an experience not to be missed!
