BEST IN NORTH AMERICA Civil Engineering Students

A team of civil engineering students made history this year when they became the first Canadian team to earn top honours at the 2011AISC/ASCE US National Student Steel Bridge Competition.

The five-member team, comprising graduating students Damien Ch’ng, Dave Enns, Cory Goulet, Chris Kukkee, and Kristen Myles travelled to Texas A & M University to compete against 48 universities. Their bridge took first place in three categories – assembly time, lightness, and structural efficiency − and placed first overall to win the competition.

"Success in intercollegiate competition requires outstanding teamwork and project management," says Dr. Tony Gillies, Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering. "These future engineers have been incredibly innovative, professional, and efficient. Their elegant bridge design solution for this year’s competition was the lightest and fastest built bridge in the competition, yet performed superbly in structural efficiency (a combination of bridge weight and stiffness under loading), which is a measure of design excellence."

Dr. Timo Tikka, who advised the team along with EngineeringTechnologist Kailash Bhatia, says the team devoted thousands of hours designing and fine-tuning their bridge. "Lakehead was by far the most vocal group and had the best communication. They worked as a team. They performed as a team. And they won as a team."

"Lakehead University is grateful to numerous local and national sponsors whose support makes it possible for us to participate in what has become one of the premier competitions for civil engineering students," adds Dr. Gillies. "It’s a wonderful feeling to know we continue to do our sponsors proud while supplementing the education of our civil engineering students with a comprehensive, student-driven project experience."

MAKE A DIFFERENCE - click to donate