Kimberly and Rebecca Yeung
Engineers of the Loki Lego Launcher
Kimberly (8) and Rebecca (10) Yeung are sisters and students at Seattle Country Day School. Over Labor Day Weekend they launched a weather balloon into the upper stratosphere. When they retrieved it, they collected data and video footage from their launch.
Let’s warm up with something fun. What’s your favorite animal?
Kimberly: The dolphin.
Rebecca: I don’t really have a favorite animal. I think I like things that people think are harmful, but they really aren’t, like non-poisonous spiders and snakes.
What’s your favorite class?
Kimberly: My favorite classes are art, tech, and music. (I play the piano.)
Rebecca: My favorite subjects are science, math, and technology. I have really awesome teachers in all of those subjects, and I also really enjoy the material we learn.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Kimberly: I want to be a robotic engineer.
Rebecca: I want to be something in STEM. I’m not entirely sure just what yet. But I think we need more people in STEM, and it sounds like a lot of fun to me.
Why did you make the Loki Lego Launcher?
Kimberly: My Dad saw a video, and we thought the idea would be fun. He also wanted to teach us about project management.
Rebecca: We originally wanted to do it because Dad wanted to teach us about project management. We had three projects we could choose from: 1) going backpacking (which we did anyway) 2) doing this weather balloon project, or 3) raising chickens. When we wanted to do the weather balloon project we did a lot of research first, and then Dad got us a three-ring binder so we could plan it all out. We also realized that doing this would be really fun and really satisfying when we accomplished it.
What was the hardest thing about making it? The most fun?
Kimberly: The hardest thing about making it was figuring out how to make it lighter because the PVC pipes were to heavy. We eventually used some of Rebecca’s bent archery arrows.
Rebecca: The hardest thing about making it was finding time to fit everything in. The most fun thing was getting something to fit, figuring out calculations or getting supplies. Little things like that.
Have you conducted any other experiments?
Kimberly: We’ve made a hydraulic arm, extracted DNA from a kiwi, and many more things.
Rebecca: We make lots of thing from kits. We like to use Lego Technic a lot because we learn about gears and mechanics. Once we built a kit from the Museum of Flight that was a hydraulic arm, and it had three syringes that made it move horizontally and vertically.
Why do you like making things?
Kimberly: I like creating things, and then experimenting with them.
Rebecca: I really enjoy the process of building, and I really like that thrill of satisfaction when you figure something out.
If you could give any other girls in school your advice, what would it be?
Kimberly: Cooperate with a team!
Rebecca: I don’t think I need to give other girls in my school advice for anything, they’re all different and special in their own way. If I did need to, it would probably be to never give up. I know that sounds repetitive, but it’s true. Also, don’t make assumptions, or speculations, without any facts. They’re not always true, and then you have to try and undo your brain, which is harder than looking at facts.
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