A University of Waterloo student has placed second in the 2013 International Student Competition on Cold-Formed Steel Design, hosted by the University of North Texas (UNT) earlier this month.
Colin Van Niejenhuis, a civil engineering master's student, placed second behind Junle Cai from Virginia Tech and ahead of third-place winner Yu Gao, also of Virginia Tech.
The international student competition promotes higher education in cold-formed steel structural design and encourages students to use creative thinking skills to solve engineering challenges. Co-sponsors of the event include the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the University of North Texas.
Students were asked to design “an open section shape for an 8-inch deep, 25-foot long flexural member that provides an adequate nominal bending strength and utilizes the least possible material.” The competition received 55 entries from institutions in Canada, China, Iran, Thailand, and the United States.
The top three winners will receive monetary awards and award plaques, with their designs exhibited at various conferences in 2014. The top 10 students in the 2013 competition will receive one-year student memberships in the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI).
The winning designs are posted online.