Civil Engineers Dominate Structures Contest in Sacramento
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 6, 2004
CONTACT: Kathleen McPartland
Tel: 530-898-4260
Jon Mohle, Civil Engineering
530-898-4628
Civil Engineers Dominate Structures Contest in Sacramento
California State University, Chico civil engineering students continued a tradition of design excellence in competitions earlier this month by dominating the Structural Engineers Association of Central California (SEAOCC) student design competition.
The student team, headed by Jessica Brandt, designed and built a traditional wood and steel truss for their entry in the competition. The truss was designed to span 14 feet and support 15,000 pounds.
The competition had three phases: First, two weeks before the testing phase students had to write a report which consisted of their design philosophy, an analysis of the entire structure, results from laboratory tests of individual components of the structure, and complete construction drawings.
The second phase of the contest was held at UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 23. In this phase, the design team was required to accurately predict how, and at what load, their structure would collapse. Once the predictions were made, the structure was loaded to failure to determine the prediction accuracy. The Chico team’s prediction was off by less than 1 percent. This was significantly better than all other participants.
The final step of the competition was an oral presentation given before professional structural engineers at the Nov. 9 SEAOCC meeting in Sacramento. The CSU, Chico team used computer simulations and presentation software to discuss the design and performance characteristics of their structure.
In addition to the SEAOCC team receiving a $500 check for the first-place finish, Jason Barnum, also a member of the Chico design team, was awarded a $750 SEAOCC scholarship.
The participating students were Jessica Brandt, Nathan Bray, Jason Barnum, Jeff Rabo, Chin Leung, Ian Hoff and the SEAOCC student chapter president Matt King. The faculty advisor for the team was Jon Mohle. Shop technician Mike Renwick, who worked with the students until midnight before the competition, was instrumental in the fabrication of the structure.
“Probably the greatest reason for the success of Chico students at these events is the hands-on, practical nature of the civil engineering program at Chico State,” said Mohle. “Also, there is fantastic teamwork among students, faculty and support staff, without which none of this would be possible.”
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