Idaho State University engineering students take top finishes at ASCE northwest competition

Idaho State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering students recently placed first in two events and second in another at the 2010 American Society of Civil Engineering Pacific Northwest Regional Conference.

The Idaho State University engineering students took first place in surveying and in an environmental challenge competition, and second in the steel bridge competition.

Although many students participated in construction of the ISU projects, the students who traveled to the competition included Chris Dudley, Jacob Kopplow, Mitch Quick, Neil Jenkins, Drew Meppen, Tyler Saxton, Brett Bybee, Kord Hurlburt, Gantsog Bayanbaatar, Sara Taow, Tifani White, Marcus Hurlburt, Kade Raymond and Kyle Jones. The advising faculty were professors Arya Ebrahimpour, James Mahar and Bruce Savage. 

The Northwest Region is comprised of 19 engineering schools in the Pacific Northwest, including schools such as Seattle University, Washington State University (which finished first overall in the competition), Boise State University and the University of Idaho. The ISU students competed in four of the six competitions; the steel bridge, surveying, environmental design and the concrete horseshoes. Each competition required hours of preparation in the planning, design, building and implementation of the projects.  

The steel bridge required the students to design and construct a bridge that met given construction parameters.  The students were scored on how fast they could assemble the bridge, the deflection of the bridge under a given load, the weight of the bridge and its aesthetics.

The environmental challenge focused on porous concrete paving.  The goal was to construct a porous concrete material that would allow water to pass through but retain oils that result from leaking cars. The surveying competition required the student to accurately complete a timed survey event.  In the concrete horseshoe event, students had to design and construct concrete horseshoes and then compete in a tournament using them. 

The ISU engineering shop technician, Miles Whiting, provided guidance on the fabrication of the bridge.  The ISU team received financial support from Agrium, the ISU College of Engineering Advisory Council and Pacific Steel.

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About Idaho State University

Idaho State University, a Carnegie-classified doctoral research institution founded in 1901, educates approximately 15,000 students per year in more than 280 programs. It is Idaho’s lead institution in health professions and medical education. Its seven colleges engage in a broad range of innovative research, teaching, and learning in the natural and physical sciences, humanities, performing and visual arts, education, engineering, business, pharmacy, and technology. Visit ISU today at www.isu.edu.