Building bridges - Local students to compete in international bridge building contest
Brandon Free and Patrick Moore from New Philadelphia High School and Garrett Thompson from Tusky Valley High School will be competing in the International Bridge Building Competition at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Free and Moore finished first in the regional bridge building competition held at Kent State University Tuscarawas Campus and Thompson finished second. The competition was judged by the Tuscarawas Valley Society of Professional Engineers. The students were judged on the efficiency of their bridge; the ratio of how much weight the bridge will hold and how heavy the bridge was. Free and Moore’s bridge had an efficiency of 1,455.4. The efficiency of Thompson’s bridge was 1,293.6.
To prepare for the international competition, the competitors sketched the bridge in Autodesk Inventor, a 3-D modeling program. Stress analyses simulated in Inventor were completed to determine weak areas on the bridge. This allowed students to modify the bridge without building and testing many prototypes.
While at the competition, students will have the opportunity to attend a wide variety of engineering presentations and attend a tour highlighting the architecture of Chicago.
Brandon Free is the son of Todd and Holly Free. Patrick is the son of Terry and Sally McRobie. Garrett Thompson is the son of Terry and Bobi Thompson. Free, Moore, and Thompson are enrolled in the principles of engineering class as part of the Project Lead the Way program. The class is taught by Debbie French at New Philadelphia and by Ron Gauding at Tusky Valley.
Free and Moore finished first in the regional bridge building competition held at Kent State University Tuscarawas Campus and Thompson finished second. The competition was judged by the Tuscarawas Valley Society of Professional Engineers. The students were judged on the efficiency of their bridge; the ratio of how much weight the bridge will hold and how heavy the bridge was. Free and Moore’s bridge had an efficiency of 1,455.4. The efficiency of Thompson’s bridge was 1,293.6.
To prepare for the international competition, the competitors sketched the bridge in Autodesk Inventor, a 3-D modeling program. Stress analyses simulated in Inventor were completed to determine weak areas on the bridge. This allowed students to modify the bridge without building and testing many prototypes.
While at the competition, students will have the opportunity to attend a wide variety of engineering presentations and attend a tour highlighting the architecture of Chicago.
Brandon Free is the son of Todd and Holly Free. Patrick is the son of Terry and Sally McRobie. Garrett Thompson is the son of Terry and Bobi Thompson. Free, Moore, and Thompson are enrolled in the principles of engineering class as part of the Project Lead the Way program. The class is taught by Debbie French at New Philadelphia and by Ron Gauding at Tusky Valley.
Published: May 2, 2011
