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Light-Bridge 2009 Baltimore, MD

Manufacturing engineering students shined in ‘Ultra Lightweight Building Contest’

 Four teams of manufacturing engineering students competed in the SAMPE (Society for Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering) ‘Ultra Lightweight Bridge Building Contest’ at annual conference in Baltimore, MD on May 19, 2009. Dr. Jitendra S. Tate, Assistant Professor, Ingram School of Engineering and Mr. Shane Arabie, Engineering Lab Technician guided these teams.


The competition hosted different categories, such as ‘Carbon Bridge’, ‘Glass Bridge’ and ‘Natural Fiber Bridge’. The Ingram School of Engineering had two teams in the Natural Fiber category and one team each in the Carbon and Glass Categories. Out of four competing teams, three won cash prizes.

 
  • Natural Fiber Category, 5th place, $100
            Stephen Jones, Kinev Pavel, Benjamin Olson, and Edward Mendez
  • Natural Fiber Category, 7th place, $75
            Travis Hilbig, Alex Herrera, Reid Horak, Eduardo Gonzalez, Hayden Beauchamp
  • Glass Category, 6th place, $75
            Thomas Wilson, Nicholas Ondrusek, Dustin Schaefer, Colby Thomas, Shawn Youngblood
 
Though our 4th team didn’t win a cash prize, their performance was outstanding. Their Carbon Bridge stood 10th out of 22 bridges in participation. It should be noted that many participants had access to high-tech composites facilities such as autoclave. The participants in this category were Benjamin Butler, Davis Carlberg, Brandi Barrier, and Bryant Bamburg. 
 
Texas State University - San Marcos participated for the second time in this contest. And our students won cash prizes for the second consecutive year. Last year, Erik Larson, current President of the SME Student Chapter, won 3rd prize in Natural Fiber category and received $150.
 
With generous support from the Ingram School of Engineering, five students traveled to Baltimore to watch the performance of their bridge. These lucky students were Benjamin Olson, and Edward Mendez, Travis Hilbig, Benjamin Butler, and Davis Carlberg. Also they received opportunity to visit exhibit hall where 300+ companies exhibited their products. 
 
SAMPE is the biggest conference devoted to composite materials (advanced, natural, nano-composites etc.). SAMPE is very active in supporting student participation in research. They offer a ‘University Research Program’ where student compete for getting slot for research presentation in regular conference. First 3 papers get cash prizes, certificates, and slot for presenting papers. There are 3 divisions: undergrad, masters, and doctoral.