Mc4West Summer Institute CEAT Paper Bridge Competition
CEAT hosted 24 students from the Mc4West Summer Institute Program for a UIUC campus tour and paper bridge competition which was held on June 21, 2005 at the Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory. The students participated in the following activities:
10:00 - 11:00 Introduction, David A. Lange
Professor Lange presented students with information about the University of Illinois and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in particular. A length discussion ensued in which many of the students’ general questions and concerns were answered as well as many of their fears about college subsided.
11:00 - 11:30 Bridge Theory Discussion
CEAT graduate students Patrick Hodina, Robert Rodden, and Salvador Villalobos presented an introduction to and discussion on bridge theory. The presentation file can be viewed here.
11:30 - 12:00 Structural Lab Tour
The students were given a tour the Mid America Earthquake Center's facilities which included a strong wall, a 1/5 scale model, and earthquake shake tables.
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch
The students dinned at the UIUC Illini Union’s food court.
1:00 - 2:00 Campus Tour
A tour of the University of Illinois was provided by University staff.
2:00 - 3:25 Paper Bridge Building
After a short introductory presentation, students broke into groups of three and constructed bridges from 4 sheets of printer paper, 2 index cards, and three feet of tape capable of spanning at least 12 inches.
3:25 - 4:15 Paper Bridge Testing
The paper bridges were loaded with pennies until failure. The winners for strongest and most aesthetically pleasing bridges were rewarded with ILLINOIS t-shirts.
4:15 - 6:00 Pizza and Bowling
All the students were rewarded with pizza and cosmic bowling, again at the UIUC Illini Union.
