A team of Waterloo Engineering students posted a fourth-place finish – its best in three tries – at a recent contest involving the assembly of a bridge over an imaginary river in a race against the clock.
Thirteen teams from Ontario, Quebec and Upstate New York were represented at the regional American Society of Civil Engineers Student Steel Bridge Competition, which was held in a domed football stadium at Syracuse University.
Members of the Waterloo Engineering team test the strength of their bridge during a recent competition at Syracuse University. Photos: James St. Onge.
Students spent eight months designing and fabricating pieces for their 20-foot bridges based on specified rules and requirements. The contest itself involved putting the components together as quickly as possible, followed by loading to assess the strength of the finished product.
“With this project, our students are learning how to weld, they’re cutting metal and drilling and doing things a lot of them have no experience in,” said faculty advisor Scott Walbridge, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “The hope is that will make them better designers when they go out in the real world.”
The Steel Bridge Team from Waterloo included: Kyle Pellerin, Dylan Dowling, Yicong Nora Liu, Tina Pham, Daniel Yuanyang Qi, Paul Cassell, James St. Onge, Marilyn Hongyou Wang, Carmen Che, Grant Mitchell, Matthew Tonello, Darryl Baker, Jenny Zhong, Stephen Atkinson, Steven Chuo, Tim Tedford, Leon Lau, Hannah Yu and In Tae Baik.