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Student Activities
Clemson “steels”
the show – inspires innovation award
 They
were challenged to think outside the box, so they redesigned it!
Judges gaped when Clemson University students assembled their entry
for the 13th annual national Student Steel Bridge Competition on
the campus of the Colorado School of Mines. They were so impressed
that they created a special award for innovation to present to Clemson.
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The 2004 Steel Bridge
team includes (left to right) Viet Huynh, Jonathan Atkins,
Duncan Bryant, Shayaa Smiley, Bee Baker, Hugh Wright, Josh
Blake, Matthew Bowers, Adam Dalessandro, Scott Schiff (faculty
advisor), Warren Rohloff, Patrick Swindler, Josh Stamm, Suha
Atiyeh, Kelly Rogers. |
The
students designed a jaw-dropping bridge that onlookers called “ingenious.”
It was as if all the teams were challenged to power a boat, and
while everyone else showed up with sails, Clemson brought a motor.
The motorboat beat the sailboats, but the judges weren’t prepared
to judge a motor, they were prepared to judge sails. So while the
Clemson bridge didn’t break any rules, it was taken out of
the running for first place.
The
bridge was in a category of its own.
The
two-span steel bridge weighs 98 pounds and can support 2,500 pounds,
roughly the weight of a small car. It stands 20 inches tall, is
3 feet wide and 26 feet long. The Steel Bridge team assembled the
bridge in less than three minutes, but it took 14 students 3,000
hours of work -- and a giant leap of faith -- to get there.
“We
knew it’d be risky. The team has been tossing the idea around
for a couple of years, and they finally decided to take a chance
on an innovative design. We’re disappointed we didn’t
win, but we’d do it all over again,” said Dr. Scott
Schiff, professor of civil engineering and faculty adviser, noting
that students from other schools asked about Clemson’s graduate
program. “One competitor said, ‘If that’s the
kind of innovation you have at Clemson, that’s where I’m
going.’”
The
competition is organized by the American Institute of Steel Construction
(AISC) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). National
sponsors include the American Iron and Steel Institute, the National
Steel Bridge Alliance, The James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation
and Nucor Corporation.
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