Bridge contest introduces students to engineering

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and four kids were sitting indoors, intently staring into computer screens, trying to get a simulated truck to go across a bridge without falling through.

No, it wasn't a video game, but a program designed by West Point Military Academy to test the skills of future engineers.

These kids were competing in the West Point Bridge Design Contest, an annual event put on the American Society of Civil Engineers' Capital Branch based in Carson City.

The four contestants " Sarah Vacchina of Carson High School, Kenny Koop of Carson Middle School, Tony Cacioppo of Eagle Valley Middle School and Ryan Vettel of St. Teresa's School " were winners of their respective schools' contests. The object is to design a bridge using software from West Point, one that doesn't collapse and uses less materials than the other contestants. Contestants have many thousands of different options for building their bridge, and the program tracks how much their design costs.

Koop designed the cheapest bridge, and won a $100 check. Sarah Vacchina of Carson High was approximately $1,000 behind Koop when the contest finished.

"The idea behind this contest is that as an engineering society we are trying to introduce engineering to kids," said Joe Cacioppo, president of ASCE Nevada Section. "Not so much to convince them to be engineers, but just introduce them to engineering as an alternative profession. Everybody knows about doctors and lawyers, but not everyone knows about engineering as a profession."

"A lot of kids don't understand that when you drive to school, turn on a faucet, flush a toilet, a civil engineer made that happen," said Mike Bennett of Lumos & Associates, one of the sponsors of the competition. Other sponsors included R.O. Anderson Engineering Inc. and Resource Concepts Inc.

Eleven area schools participated in the contest, with seven submitting designs. The winners of each school received a $100 prize.

West Point Bridge Design Contest:

http://bridgecon

test.usma.edu/

ASCE Capital Branch:

http://branches.asce.org/nvcapital/