Kennesaw State’s steel bridge student competition team recently competed in the American Society of Civil Engineers and American Institute of Steel Construction’s Student Steel Bridge Competition, finishing in the top 20.
The KSU team consisted of nine students, all within the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology. Engineering students Chandler Cooper, Gehu Bautista Santiago, Bryan Dutra, Kushal Ankola, Kim McDonald, Nensi Mistry, Francesca Del Aguila, Christian Marshal and Eric Shults all participated in the competition at Southern Illinois University late last month.
According to AISC’s website, the annual competition challenges student teams to build and develop scale-model steel bridges. After construction, judges test and weigh the bridges, which must be approximately 20 feet in length and must be able to carry 2,500 pounds.
The team beat out competition teams from 29 other institutions from across the U.S., finishing in 12th place overall. Other institutions competing included Brigham Young University, the University of Wisconsin, Kansas State University and Texas A&M University.
During this year’s competition, the KSU team built its 22-foot-long bridge in less than seven minutes, winning out with the sixth fastest time in the competition. The team was also judged based on construction, lightness, display, stiffness, economy and efficiency.
This is KSU’s fourth win at the competition in the past five years, this year being its highest placement in the competition since 2015.
“The mission of AISC’s Student Steel Bridge Competition is to challenge students to extend their classroom knowledge to a practical and hands-on steel-design project that grows their interpersonal and professional skills, encourages innovation and fosters impactful relationships between students and industry professionals,” the AISC website reads.