IIT to Host Chicago Regional Bridge Building Contest
Physics and science students from high schools throughout the Chicago metropolitan area will be competing in the 32nd Chicago Regional Bridge Building Contest at Illinois Institute of Technology. The contest will be held February 7, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Hermann Hall, 3241 South Federal.
Participants compete to design, construct, and test the most efficient bridge within predetermined specifications. The contest promotes the fundamental principles of physics and helps high school students develop hands on engineering skills. The simplified versions of real-world bridges are built using basswood. Participants are required to design them to accept a load at any point on the bridge and permit the load to travel across the entire span. The bridge with the highest structural efficiency will be declared the winner.
This event is sponsored by the Biological, Chemical, and Physical Sciences (BCPS) and the Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering (MMAE) departments.
Participating students have already placed in the top four in bridge building contests held at their schools. Winners of the regional contest will participate in the International Bridge Building Contest, April 8, 2006, in Tennessee.
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.
