Battle of the Brains finalists selected from record number of school teams

The Battle of the Brains is becoming an institution with record participation to see which group of students can come up with the best idea for a new, $1 million exhibit at Science City.

The fourth round of the contest sponsored by the Burns & McDonnell Foundation elicited 820 proposals from regional schools, a 60 percent increase from the last round.

The number of students participating was about 7,000, a 30 percent increase.

Overall, 250 schools in 55 school districts participated in this round.

The 20 finalist teams, half each in the elementary and high school categories, were informed Thursday in a series of surprise visits to their schools from Burns & McDonnell officials. The finalists were chosen by Burns & McDonnell engineers.

“The students and teachers were screaming, hugging and jumping up and down,” Burns & McDonnell CEO Ray Kowalik said in a statement later. “It was truly one of the most special moments of my career.”

Online voting by the public begins Friday and will continue through the Friday after Thanksgiving. Anyone with a valid email address can vote. The result will count for 30 percent of the final selection. In the third Battle of the Brains, which was won by Lee’s Summit’s Mason Elementary School, more than 70,000 public votes were cast.

The winner of the fourth round will be announced Nov. 30 at what has come to be a joyous assembly at Union Station.

Each finalist team will get a share of $155,000 in grant money, with the winning school receiving $50,000. Students on the winning team will have the opportunity to work with Burns & McDonnell to turn their idea into a permanent exhibit at Science City.

Olathe North High School, which won the first Battle of the Brains and was one of two winners in the second round, is again a finalist. The school was ineligible for the grand prize in the third round because of previous wins.

The Battle of the Brains is intended to encourage students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math — often referred to as STEM education.

All of this has been courtesy of the Kansas City engineering firm Burns & McDonnell, which has contributed millions of dollars to Science City over the years. Former CEO Greg Graves and current CEO Ray Kowalik have acknowledged it is in their company’s interest to groom the engineers of the future.

The 20 finalists:

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Battle of the Brains finalists selected from record number of school teams."