Steel Bridge Team to take part in national competition
Monday, May 3, 2021
MANHATTAN — The Kansas State University Steel Bridge Team, after scoring well in the Heartland Regionals in April, has qualified for the American Institute of Steel Construction, or AISC, National Student Steel Bridge Competition virtual event, "Compete from Campus," Tuesday, May 4, in Engineering Hall.
Team members, in a timed competition, will be videotaped as they construct a 1/10-scale steel bridge, piece by piece, at a simulated river site. Once built, the bridge, entirely designed by the students, will be judged for aesthetics based on its appearance and a poster describing design of the bridge, and then undergo lateral and vertical load testing.
Serving as on-site judges, all alumni of K-State civil engineering and its steel bridge team, will be Rick Kreider, Peter Clark and Grant Lyons. Their task will be to document anything that happens during the construction and load testing, from penalties for dropping parts in the "water," to any safety violations, etc., and then submit these notes to the national judging team, with final results from the competition announced later in May.
During the regional competition, the K-State team scored first in lightness and efficiency, and third in both construction speed and economy, for a second-place overall finish.
Team captains are Alex Link, senior in civil engineering, Burlington, and Kurtis Wicka, junior in civil engineering, Paso Robles, California.
Other team members include Lauren Costello, master's student in architectural engineering, Garden Plain; Trevor Young,master's student in civil engineering, Lansing; Seth Walker, senior in civil engineering Louisburg, Grant Trued, senior in civil engineering, Overland Park; Gabriel Flanders, junior in civil engineering, Pratt; and Austin Deters, senior in civil engineering, Seneca.
From out of state: Reese Perrine, junior in civil engineering, Rochester, Illinois; Johan Rogers, freshmen in civil engineering, Frederick,Maryland; Morgan Trabert, freshmen in civil engineering, Rosemount, Minnesota; and Cameron Hicks, junior in architectural engineering, and Josh Willoughby, freshman in civil engineering, both from Lee's Summit, Missouri.
Faculty adviser is Scott Schiff, teaching professor and Wallis-Lage Family-Carl and Mary Ice Cornerstone teaching scholar in the civil engineering department.
"Every year this entire competitive design-build project is managed by students who receive a great deal of knowledge and experience," Schiff said, "including designing, optimizing, drawing, detailing, locating and ordering material, fabricating, painting, assembling and competing.
"Team members learn how to model the actual bridge and help to finalize steel sizes. The entire design-build process provides hands-on, practical experience involving real-world engineering issues that stress teamwork, innovation, safety and professionalism."
