Engineering students take first at steel bridge regionals
April 4, 2011
907-474-7902
4/4/11
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Steel Bridge Team took first place at the Student Steel Bridge Competition at the American Society of Civil Engineers Pacific Northwest Regional Conference March 31-April 2 in Anchorage.
The UAF team took first place overall and in five of six individual categories: efficiency, stiffness, economy, lightness and construction speed. UAF also placed fourth in aesthetics among the 12 teams at the competition.
The annual contest requires students to design and build steel bridge that meets that year’s specifications. They must strictly adhere to a set of complicated rules in the bridge’s design and assembly. The teams are then judged on how quickly they can assemble their bridge, as well as the aesthetics of the structure and its construction economy, lightness, stiffness and structural efficiency.
With its regional win, the UAF team advances to the National Steel Bridge Competition at Texas A&M University May 20-21. Second-place team University of British Columbia and third-place team Washington State University will also participate in the national competition.
Team members include Patrick Brandon, Nicholas Brehm, Gordon Dufseth, Pauline Fusco, Jennifer Holland, Jeromy Jones, Louis Landry-Michaud, Aaron Simpson, Greg Smith, Aubrey Swallows, Julien Tessier-Lessard, Stephanie Young, and Jason Zottola. Team advisors include structural engineering professor Leroy Hulsey and adjunct professor Wilhelm Muench.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Leroy Hulsey, engineering professor, at 907-474-7816, 907-460-8993 or jlhulsey@alaska.edu. Stephanie Young, team co-captain, at 907-401-0912 or snyoung@alaska.edu.
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