Purdue News

February 23, 2004

Science Bound students to 'bust a bridge'

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Six teams of Science Bound students from Arlington and Key Learning Center high schools in Indianapolis will compete on March 5 with 55 teams from central Indiana high schools to build and then break a bridge in the Bridge Bust contest.

The competition, administered by the Purdue University chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, begins at 10:15 a.m. at the Tippecanoe Mall in Lafayette.

Teams will assemble the bridges from 20 sticks of balsa wood and a bottle of glue.

"Most bridges are about 2 feet long and 8 inches high," said Katie Haggard, competition co-chair.

Haggard, a junior from Cincinnati who is majoring in civil engineering, said that despite the modest size of the bridges, significant skill is required for top-notch construction.

"The bridges are judged on their aesthetic qualities, structural concepts and loading efficiency," Haggard said. "Loading efficiency will be determined by pouring sand into buckets that will be hanging from the bridges. Whichever can hold the most weight wins that category."

Haggard and co-chairs Craig Dyksen, of Middlebury, Ind., and Heather Stanley, of Connersville, Ind., will award plaques to the winners in each category.

Wesley Campbell, Science Bound director, said he is looking forward to seeing if the bridges constructed by Science Bound students can hold their weight.

"Activities like these that promote learning in a fun way are just the kinds of things we encourage Science Bound students to participate in," Campbell said. "Many of these students will pursue an engineering degree at Purdue in just a few years. By participating in Bridge Bust, they'll have made a fast break on their coursework preparation."

Science Bound, a program initiated in 2002 by Purdue President Martin C. Jischke, mentors eighth-grade to 12th-grade Indianapolis Public Schools students and encourages them to take classes in preparation for future careers in science, engineering, technology and math-science education. Upon acceptance, Science Bound students receive an opportunity to earn a full-tuition scholarship to Purdue to study in an approved technical field.

In addition to the Science Bound students from Indianapolis, students will represent Crawfordsville, Rensselaer, Benton Central, Carmel, Greencastle and Noblesville high schools.

Writer: Marydell Forbes, (765) 496-7704, mforbes@purdue.edu

Sources: Katie Haggard, (513) 349-8969, khaggard@purdue.edu

Wesley Campbell, (765) 494-0018, wesleyl@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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