A team of Missouri University of Science and Technology students recently placed first in Region 3 of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute’s Big Beam Competition.
Four S&T civil engineering graduate students designed a large-scale, pre-stressed and pre-cast concrete beam with the help of Coreslab Structures Inc., based in Marshall, Mo. The team’s faculty advisor is Dr. John Myers, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri S&T.
Entries to the competition were judged on design accuracy, lowest cost and weight, largest deflection before failure, practicality, and innovation.
The students were required to prepare a technical paper and were judged on the most accurate predictions of cracking load and deflection at maximum load, among other things.
The S&T Big Beam Team members include Jared Brewe of Rolla, Mo., a graduate student in civil engineering; David Holdener of Columbia, Ill., who received his master of science degree in civil engineering in summer 2008; Wendy Moore of Kansas City, Mo., who received her master of science degree in civil engineering in summer 2008; and Yosuke Tanizawa of Takamatsu, Japan, a graduate student in civil engineering.
The Big Beam Contest is sponsored by Sika Corporation.
In addition to finishing first in their region, the S&T students placed fifth among more than 60 competing teams in the national competition.