GORHAM – Chase Tomberlin concentrated as he dropped pennies onto a sheet of tinfoil floating in water, counting each one.

His goal was to beat the top score of 230 pennies before the tinfoil boat he crafted sank.

“I copied his design,” Tomberlin said, referring to another boy who had just broken the mark. “But I made the sides taller so it wouldn’t sink as fast.”

Tomberlin, 12, of Gardiner wound up placing 325 pennies before his boat sank, topping the leader board for the experiment at Saturday’s 20th annual Maine Engineers Week Expo hosted by the Maine Engineering Promotions Council at the University of Southern Maine.

The penny experiment “is a basic design process,” said Dave Porter, a naval architect at Bath Iron Works. “They figure out what works and what doesn’t work, then create something different. It’s a design spiral.”

More than 75 exhibitors turned out for the event, geared toward children in middle school and high school. More than 1,500 people attended, said Erik Wiberg, chairman of the council’s board of directors.

“We want to get students excited about engineering, science, technology and math,” said Dave Early, who’s also a member of the council’s board. “So they can take necessary classes to pursue engineering.”

While Saturday was full of hands-on experiments for the children, it also offered insight into potential careers.

Wright-Pierce, Fairchild Semiconductor, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and S.W. Cole Engineering all had exhibits.

Engineering students from USM and the University of Maine in Orono also attended.

Dave Fogler, who was the featured speaker at the organization’s Friday night banquet, was available to speak with children and their parents. Working at Industrial Light & Magic in San Francisco, Fogler, who is originally from Exeter, played a role in creating special effects for movies such as “Avatar,” “Transformers,” “Star Wars” and “The Matrix” series.

“I was always interested in film, and I had a known knack for building things. So I took what I was good at and what I was interested in and took every opportunity I could,” Fogler said.

Opportunity was what Saturday’s expo was all about.

Kiersten Bennett, 9, of Gray took a break from representing the 4-H Robotics Team to make some goop at one of the exhibits, mixing and kneading a combination of white glue, water and Borax powder. The experiment was a simple exercise to demonstrate chemical engineering.

“It’s a good buzz,” Wiberg said of the event. “Everyone here is having fun. It’s really a great community we have.”

Staff Writer Emma Bouthillette can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:

ebouthillette@pressherald.com