The Steel Bridge Team at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville recently competed in the Western Great Lakes Student Steel Bridge 2024 Regional Competition, which was held in Chicago, Illinois, where they took home multiple awards and are advancing to the national competition.
The team competed against 14 other teams and placed second overall, first in the categories of stiffness and structural efficiency and third in cost estimation.
“Observing the remarkable achievement of my student team at the regional competition filled me with profound pride in their dedication, innovation and hard work,” said Dr. Amr El Ragaby, the team’s faculty advisor. “Experiencing the moment when their efforts blossomed into success, propelling them to compete at the national level, brought me unmatched joy. Knowing that the guidance, education and training they received from all faculty in CEE played a pivotal role in nurturing their brilliance and empowering young minds to reach new heights was truly fulfilling.”
El Ragaby said he wasn’t the only one who felt pride in the team’s excellence. One of his former students, a UW-Platteville alum and competition judge, told El Ragaby they were extremely impressed with the performance of UW-Platteville’s bridge and more so by the way the students carried themselves, adding that UW-Platteville never ceases to amaze them with the quality of young engineers that come out of the program.
Team members are Mason Holmes, Dane Krolikowski, James Ramos, Ethan Stang, Alex Zinda, Howard Hall, Max Ludington, Josh Hahn, Zach Maly, Keyne Smedema, Max Lenk, Kenny Moratti, Dylan Ruechel, Lydia Romback, Justin Vande Hei, Mark Butts and Alex Brodhagen.
“Every single one of us has dedicated more time than we may be willing to admit to the success of our team at competition,” said Maly, the team president. “Seeing it finally pay off, I, along with everyone else, was elated. All of the hours, all of the struggle, it was all worth it. Looking ahead to nationals, I have great confidence in the ability of this team. I am so proud and fortunate to be a part of the Steel Bridge Team at University of Wisconsin-Platteville.”
According to the Western Great Lakes American Society of Civil Engineers Student Symposium website, the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Institute of Steel Construction student steel bridge competition challenges students to extend their classroom knowledge to a practical, hands-on steel-design project that grows their interpersonal and professional skills, encourages innovation and fosters impactful relationships between students and industry professionals. Each student team must determine how to fabricate their scale-model steel bridge and plan for an efficient assembly under timed construction conditions. The bridge must be approximately 20 feet long and carry 2,500 pounds. Bridges are load-tested, weighed and judged on aesthetics.