CIVILS BEING CIVIL
Volume 1 - Issue 5 - Spring 2015
Educators: BSCES Public Awareness & Outreach
Spring into Action: Check
out these Design
Challenges
IN THIS ISSUE:
•Online Bridge Design Contest
•Model Bridge Contest
•Future City Competition
•Choate Bridge 250th Birthday
•STEM Social Dinner
•Now Online: Civils Being Civil
•Construction Career Days
RALPH SALVUCCI ONLINE
BRIDGE DESIGN CONTEST
The Online Bridge Contest is a sub-contest of
the national Engineering Encounters Bridge Design
Contest. The national contest is open to students in
grades 6-12, but locally, all ages are welcome. Students take a realistic approach to structural engineering by modeling bridges in a free software program
provided by the Army Educational Outreach Program.
Students use their best problem solving skills to
design the cheapest bridge that still carries a virtual
truck. Registration closes on April 24, 2015 at 1PM
and there will be an awards dinner on May 19.
For more information, please visit
www.engineeryourfuture.org and
http://bridgecontest.org.
Pictured Above: 1st Place Efficiency Winner Bill Xu with his bridge in front
of the judges
MODEL BRIDGE CONTEST
This contest was held on February 7 at Northeastern. Students explored the engineering of
bridges by designing and building model bridges
out of chopsticks and hot glue. Several local
experts judged the bridges for aesthetics, strength,
and eﬃciency. The students who built the best
bridges based on eﬃciency were in 1st place, Bill Xu
from Malden Catholic, in 2nd place, Garphey Crevecoeur from Malden Catholic, and in 3rd place,
Andrew Schrader and Travor Connoly from Marblehead Middle School. The students who built the
top bridges based on aesthetics were in 1st place,
Garphey Crevecoeur from Malden Catholic, in 2nd
place, Ryan Hanna, Jack Stone, and Zachary Robinson from Malden Catholic, and in 3rd place, Jake
Szottfried and Chris Peake from Marblehead High
School. In all, there were 27 teams which participated in the competition this year and all 27
bridges were unique and creative.
Pictured Above: 1st Place Aesthetics and 2nd Place Efficiency Winner
Garphey Crevecoeur with his bridge in front of the judges
Volume 1 - Issue 5 - Spring 2015
Educators: BSCES Public Awareness & Outreach
FUTURE CITY COMPETITION
CHOATE BRIDGE 250th BIRTHDAY
The Future City Competition is a national,
project-based learning experience where students in
grades 6-8 imagine, design, and build cities of the
future. Students work in teams along with an educator and an engineering mentor. This year, the New
England regional finals were held at Northeastern
University’s Curry Student Center on January 31. The
event this year coincided
with some tough weather
for Boston, but 21 teams
still managed to trek
through the snow and
make it to the competition.
The city which finished in
first place was “Frisch Vom
Dach”. The team which built this
city was from Farmington Valley American Muslim
Center in Farmington, CT consisted of students
Daniyal Athar, Ehsen Ahmed, and Hashim Ali with
mentor Urooj Ahmad. The second place city was
“Labodiem” created by a team from Birchland Park,
East Longmeadow, MA and the third place city was
“101010” created by students from West Springfield,
MA.
“Frisch Vom Dach” represented New England
at the Future City National Competition which was
held in Washington, DC on Feb. 14-18, 2015. “Frisch
Vom Dach” even won a special award, the Most
Holistic Approach for the city that best incorporates
sustainability and an integrated approach to managing resources and infrastructure systems. The award
was presented by CH2M HILL.
On Saturday, May 16, 2015, the Ipswich
bridge will be celebrated because it is the oldest
double stone arch bridge in North America. The
bridge was built in 1764. The celebration will
consist of family educational activities for all ages
similar to Thinkfest.
More information will be available soon on
www.engineeryourfuture.org
Pictured Above: Choate Bridge in Ipswich, MA
NOW WE ARE A WEBSITE, TOO!
It’s still a baby, but check out our brand
new website: www.civilsbeingcivil.org. We post
our TV show, newsletter, and much more!
For more information, please visit
www.civilsbeingcivil.org.
CONTRUCTION CAREER DAYS
Individuals who work in the construction
industry are invited to volunteer for this event. On
April 30th, people from various aspects of the
construction industry will explain their careers to
students.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Reed Brockman at
[email protected].
Pictured Above: 1st Place Winning City “Frisch Vom Dach” and team