The Beginning

Beginning as early as elementary school, Jeff Grattan and his father Larry formed a Tech Challenge team. This Tech Challenge team competed annually in various competitions sponsored by the Tech Museum of San Jose. Joe Carolan also was on this original team. Over the years, Mithil Munshi and Evan Johnson joined this team. Dominating the competition every year, oftentimes taking home first place, the team looked for a way to broaden the horizon and enter a competition of greater difficulty.

In the first year of the Space Elevator 2010 when it was held at Nasa Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, Larry Grattan attended the event. As one team after another failed miserably, with most completely incapable of even moving from the base, Larry began to consider a possible attempt in the following year’s competition. He reported back to his team of high school students, and the team unanimously agreed that this was a competition that could be handled.

Filled with inspiration and determination, the team began to plan its run at the championship. To the drawing board the team went; much was to be done. An adequate energy source must be found as well as an adequate surrounding frame and motor. The team chose a carbon fiber structure accompanied by a “secret” motor. For their energy source, they chose to take advantage of sunlight, arming their device with eight rolls of solar panels. The entire planning and construction took many long days and nights.

Fully aware of the intense amount of competition they would face at the event, the team appeared unperturbed by the mounting pressure. They worked tirelessly up until the last week in which Larry began the lengthy journey of transporting the device to Las Cruces, New Mexico by way of road. For the high school team, the Elevator 2010 project could not have occurred at a worse time. Right in the middle of Homecoming Week, the team had to make the trek to New Mexico in pairs. Joe and Mithil went for the trials, successfully qualifying the device for the actual competition. Jeff and Evan then went for the weekend, eagerly anticipating the impending excitement.

Saturday morning began at the early hour of 5 AM for the team. Waking to freezing temperatures, the team left El Paso, Texas in hopes of capturing an early trial time before the daunting winds began to howl across the desolate desert. After a quick Starbucks run, the team began the hour long drive to glory. Day one turned out to be a complete bust as a result of wind, with Team Lite Won failing to even attempt to make a climb. Thus the team returned to El Paso, their confidence and desire unaltered.

Sunday began a beautiful day. Waking before the sunrise, the team eagerly rushed back to the Las Cruces airport for day two of the competition. The conditions could not have been more perfect. The sun rose high in the sky; the wind remained at a managable level. The team finally made their first attempt. The device made it to the top at a stunning 5 minutes and 31 seconds, the fastest time yet, but not nearly fast enough to meet the 1 meter per second requirement. Thus they decided to adjust the speed of their motor for a faster trip up the ribbon. This decision paid off. In their second attempt, the device accomplished its task in just over 2 minutes. Overjoyed with their results, the team returned home with the best time of the day. One more day of competition remained, accompanied by one more trial for Lite Won.

On Day 3, the team decided once more to change the speed of their motor, hoping this would propel their team to glory. However, this action came with a potential consequence of frying the entire motor. The team gambled and took the chance. However, as they readied the device at the launch pad, the solar panels could not generate enough power to drive the new, upgraded motor. Thus, the team returned to California with a tremendous desire of returning to the competition the following year, and winning the grand prize.

Only a high school team, Team Lite Won faced the incredible task of competing with some of the smartest minds in not only America, but the entire world. Universities from as far as Spain traveled the distance to compete in the competition. Despite this, Team Lite Won emerged with the second best time, second only to that of the University of Saskatchewan. The underdogs of the competition, the high school team stunned onlookers and officials. Though their device was surprisingly simple, it used the natural daylight to travel the distance and compete convincingly. The team now eagerly awaits next year’s competition, having learned several valuable and rewarding lessons that they will carry with them as they create their new device.

Tech Challenge 2001

Won 2nd Place in Device Design 5th-12th Grade

Tech Challenge 2002

Won 1st Place Overall 5th-12th Grade
Won Fastest Device 5th-12th Grade

Tech Challenge 2003

Won Fastest Device 5th-12th Grade

Tech Challenge 2004

Won 1st Place Overall 5th-12th Grade

Tech Challenge 2005

Won Fastest Device 9th-12th Grade

Tech Challenge 2006

Won Fastest Device 9th-12th Grade