Steel bridge team wins first place for fourth consecutive year
For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Computing and Engineering’s steel bridge team – SteelRoos – won first place in the regional finals of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)/American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Steel Bridge Competition. The SteelRoos won first place in Stiffness, Lightness, Efficiency and Overall and second place in Construction Speed, Economy and Display.
The competition took place in mid-April at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, and included teams from Kansas State University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, University of Arkansas, University of Kansas, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska-Omaha and University of Oklahoma.
The timed competition required teams to design, fabricate, construct and test steel bridges, which would be judged on construction speed, design aesthetics, lightness, stiffness, strength and deflection and other characteristics. Each year, the ASCE/AISC modifies the rules to encourage students to think of new solutions and to keep the competition competitive.
The UMKC/SCE students who represented UMKC at the regional competition are Aaron Castro, Chris Farney, Kyle Dunning, Stephen Huffman, Mark Crawford, Angela Kartsonis, Marc Phillips, Matthew Spurrier and David Kidd.
On May 22, the SteelRoos will compete in the ASCE/AISC National Student Steel Bridge Competition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. At last year’s national competition, the SteelRoos finished in the top ten and beat out engineering powerhouses such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
“Our fourth consecutive regional win speaks volumes about the quality of the UMKC School of Computing and Engineering’s program,” said Kevin Truman, Dean of the UMKC School of Computing and Engineering. “Our students’ dedication, work ethic, design and fabrication are just incredible. All of these components are necessary to produce a regional winner, and to achieve this year-after-year is amazing.”
The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience.