Big equipment rodeo

Students from around the state were at Havre's university Wednesday, churning dirt and handling basketballs with construction equipment. Greg Kegel, dean of the College of Technical Sciences at Montana State University-Northern, said 155 students from 15 high schools came to Havre for the TekNoXpo, moving from station to station learning about programs and equipment at Northern, with the final event the Big Equipment Rodeo. The TekNoXpo was held on the last day of anothEr event, the four-day Women in Technology Institute, which brought 18 Montana high school girls to learn about opportunities in the field of technology and hear from successful women working in those fields. TekNoXpo started at 9 a.m., with the students being split into teams and taken on tours of the campus. They also were given demonstrat ions and hands-on experience in the programs at the college. The programs showcased included agricultural technology, automotive technology, business, civil engineering technology, computer information systems, design drafting, diesel technology, electrical technology, plumbing and welding. Three events were scheduled for the Big Equipment Rodeo: Skid Steer Races, Backhoe Basketball and the Excavator Simulator. The students actually ran the machinery in the event, some of them using the big equipment for the first time, Kegel said. Sponsors provided four backhoes, four skid steers and three excavator simulators for the event, as well as providing a barbecue lunch for to the students.