| The American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Hawaii Section and the University of
Hawaii College of Engineering co-sponsored a popsicle stick bridge competition
during the Engineering Expo for Middle School Students at the University
of Hawaii at Manoa, Holmes Hall. Thirteen teams of three students from
eight middle schools participated in this activity.
Students
were limited to using no more than 700 popsicle sticks and had to use Elmers
glue to hold their bridge together. The bridges had to span over 2 feet,
had to be at least 4 inches wide and could be no taller than 9 inches.
Bridges were judged by how much load it could hold in a load frame. The
participants presented to the judges how they chose their design, the most
difficult part about building the bridge and how they expected their bridge
to handle the load.
This year’s
first place winners were Chelsea Domingo, Ashley Marquez and Gabrilyn Lee
from Kapolei Middle School’s “Kapolei Blue Flames” team. Their bridge withstood
a total of 226 pounds. “We worked on our bridge for almost one month, during
our lunch breaks and after school,” said Gabrilyn Lee. “I’m so proud of
our students,” said Ariel Villanueva, the students’ teacher, “they worked
really hard —we hope to come back next year!” The second place team, “Kapolei
Silver Surfers” also from Kapolei Middle School, designed a bridge that
supported 197 pounds while the third place team, “Pink Monkeys” from Kalama
Middle School on Maui, competed with a bridge that held 187.5 pounds.
ASCE and
the UH College of Engineering cosponsored this event once previously in
January 2004. The College and ASCE hope that through activities like the
popsicle stick bridge competition, more students will become interested
in Engineering. Engineers, especially Civil Engineers, are currently in
high demand in Hawaii with Civil Engineering positions open at all levels
of Government, the Private Sector and in the Construction Industry. |
