Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Argus Loves Up Some Lakehead

It's all 'bout the Moose eh!

http://www.theargus.ca/news/1957
(that dude on the lower left is priceless...)

Take Notes

Well, if you're in the Mid-Pacific. you're battling the Spartans of San Jose and the Wolfpack of Reno for the SPIRIT BELL, aka the most coveted award of all engineering competitions WORLDWIDE!!! This is one example of how to make yourselves remembered throughout competition weekend...

Next on the List

It's fixin' to be a SUPER WEEKEND next week...should be on info overload...we'll get you a full rundown of the Mid-Pacific, and hopefully results will be pouring in from Troy, Durham, Vegas, Las Cruces, UP and Massachusetts.

Upstate New York - Rensselaer Polytechnic University
Troy, NY / April 8-9

Carolinas - Duke University
Durham, NC / April 8-10

Mid-Pacific - California State University, Chico
Chico, CA / April 8-10

Pacific Southwest - University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV / April 8-10

Rocky Mountain - New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM / April 8-10

New England - Tufts University
Medford, MA / April 10

Mid-Atlantic - Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA / April 10-11

Picture me Rolling.

...Poly's got the visual.

http://www.calpolysteelbridge.com/2010/03/30/construction-practice-has-begun/

Monday, March 29, 2010

Go Knights Win Win Win!!!

UCF Numero Uno

Miami Gets 6th Overall

Linkamus Maximus Miamimus

The Big UBC Sting...

The Thunderbirds ready themselves for Pullman.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4ffJkphw8I
(big mode on Youtube, aka "The Hook")

Word from NOLA???

Nothing yet from the Deep South, still waiting.

North Central V.2010

Results:

1. University of Michigan
2. Michigan State University
3. Case Western Reserve University
4. University of Toledo
5. Michigan Technological University (Ineligibility 12.5.a)
5. Western Michigan University (12.5.b)
5. Wayne State University (12.5.e)

Word is the Wolverines have a unique design, and obviously were well prepared in regard to the rules etc. etc. Further word indicates that it was practically a tie for 1st and 2nd place between the two at the top, so State isn't too far behind.

Thanks to Mr. Schmidt and the boys & gals at Kalamazoo.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Friday, March 26, 2010

Thursday, March 25, 2010

When in Doubt...

...Mess With Folks!

Make it Four Boilermakers.

A&M WriteyUpy

http://www.ethiopianreview.com/scitech/46102

Hmmm...

...About a 2 to 1 ratio for cooperative faculties vs. those who don't seem to care...slightly disturbing but not unexpected.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Buzz....

....Steel Bridge Lullabye...

Future Regional Visits

Mid-Pacific in Chico, Saturday, April 10th.
http://www.midpac2010.com/

Pacific Northwest in Pullman, Saturday, Friday, April 23rd.
http://asce.ce.wsu.edu/pnwrc2010/

WMU to Host

Latest blurby from Kalamazoo.

http://www.rso.wmich.edu/asce/2010ncrc/index.htm

Western Michigan all fired up! Linkamazooo!

WMU ASCE Steel Bridge
2010 team members

  • Caleb Batts, a junior from Kalamazoo
  • Zach Deary, a sophomore from Essexville, Mich.
  • Lavern Filipunas, a freshman from Kalamazoo
  • Brad Gerbasich, a senior from Toledo, Ohio
  • Steve Houren, a junior from Novi, Mich.
  • Joe Johnson, a junior from Clinton Township, Mich.
  • Josh O'Keefe, a junior from Athens, Mich.
  • Chris Sawyer, a senior from Grand Rapids, Mich.
  • David Schmidt, a senior from Rochester Hills, Mich.

Now, Big Iron

It seems inevitable there's going to be some who are ticked about this blog...so it's now gonna be called Big Iron in honor of Purdue hosting and to illustrate the fact that the UC Davis Aggies are indeed independent of the posts here.



Dept. Love For Badgers

Loving the write ups out of Madison, these guys got the chemistry it sounds like.

https://www.engr.wisc.edu/news/headlines/2010/Mar16.html

Great Captain Story Out of UMass

Meet Aimee O'Brien:

READ HERE

"Stealing" a Design

Is there really time, at THIS stage of the competition, to steal another teams' design and take it to regionals or even Nationals? I find this thought amusing...I mean it's not like we're back in 2002 or 2003 when all you had was a 1 to 2 week fabrication job...things have changed haven't they?

Again, and it's the last time I'll say this: if I've accidentlly put a pic up here of your squad that you don't want...let it be known and it's off...however, beyond that, lighten up, and like a new friend recently told me "some people take this competition way too seriously." (duh, the ones that win)

side note: if you like to be pleasantly surprised at Nationals with what people have come up with, then you should read this blog. If you're looking for detailed numbers, pics of qualifiers etc. etc you should not read this blog...go search on your own. Or better still, pay the cost, and go check out a regional near you...or not near you...just go do something.


To those still hunting...

...for that NSSBC spot.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Upcoming 3/22

Texas A&M College Station
Texas San Antonio (2010 Tex-Mex hosts)

Lakehead University
North Dakota State University
Central Florida
Florida
Southern Poly

Another look into the immediate future:


Deep South - University of New Orleans
NOLA / March 26-27

North Central - Western Michigan University

Kalamazoo, MI / March 26-28

A Yell for Those Qualified!









It's all I could find, Lakehead, UTSA, Southern Poly...sorry dudes!

Latest from Southeast Conference

Thank you anonymous:

1st Place Overall - University of Central Florida
2nd Place Overall - University of Florida
3rd Place Overall - Southern Polytechnic State University

1st Place Speed - Central Florida
1st Place Lightness - Central Florida
1st Place Deflection - Florida
1st Place Economy - Central Florida
1st Place Efficiency - Florida (we think)
1st Place Display - Puerto Rico, Mayaguez

Pics from Midwest

(No NDSU or Lakehead)...Sorry!!!
Knowledge without Mileage is useless.

Facebooker Linker

(If any non-NSSBC qualified school from the MW does not want their work showcased on this blog, then just email me m.finn.turner@gmail.com)

Midwest Mentaculus

Here Goes...



Getting There:
Amtrak left late in the afternoon on March 16th from Portland. We then crawled along the Columbia Gorge en route to Spokane where we spookily waited for 1 hour in near pitch black silence as our cars were forked into separate directions...mine was headed to Whitefish, MT. So, indeed, we cruised through the night through the hearty land of northern Montana: Whitefish, Glacier Park, Cut Bank, Shelby, Havre, Malta, Glasgow and finally Wolf Point...on St. Patrick's Day they were stumbling in the streets of Wolf Point having a few pints, would've been nice to join them! After the Big Sky State we kept on truckin' through North Dakota: Williston, Stanley, Minot, Rugby, Grand Forks and finally down into Fargo...where it was 2 a.m. local time. So I slept in the Amtrak station in light of it was a shite side cold out and waited for the sun to come up...it did...I proceeded to the NDSU campus and checked things out while the Bison were gone on Spring Break...it was March 18th...and my Jefferson Lines bus was leaving for Brookings, SD in a few hours so I started hoofing it to West Fargo down on 45th Street to catch that groundbird. Easy travels into Brookings, and I found a cheap, warm, lovely Super 8, where I crashed for 10 hours...foregoing the 12 hours of drinking I heard about out at the Days Inn by the Indoor Pool (novel concept for West Coast lad like me).

Pre-Competition:
After getting my bearings, I checked out the SDSU campus, which, was actually quite nice, they have a huge Ag Engineering program, which was nice to see, the football facilities were a little bit Spartan, but no doubt, a home field advantage on extremely chilly days (like that day!). After SDSU I eventually caught up with Andrew Wrucke of the NDSU squad out at the Days Inn just after the Midwest Regional Banquet (snore, snore). The keynote speaker tried, but apparently was tooting his own horn a little too loudly...good miss for me. So, as the Captain's meeting got underway, the Wruckester, Big Eqypt, Edwin and me had A beer down by the pool...the Mankato boys and gals had several, and several more after we left...it was the eve of the competition of course.

Competition Day:
A Slooooooooooooooooooooooow Start, even slower than usual at a regional, took near 2 hours to get through Minnesota Mankato, and they only worked a beam!!! After that first one, however, the crews started to get rolling...it was like a judge walkthrough or something, but if you ask me, it was a crawlthrough...KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING BEFORE YOU COME OUT TO JUDGE 9 MONTHS OF HARD ANALYSIS AND LABOR.

Ugh, okay, so...the drama of the day...we got a glimpse into the future when Minnesota-Mankato had 9, yes, 9 pieces that didn't fit into the "box" at the competition. What about using another one? Nope, the box was THE BOX...and apparently the 50/50 slide in rule didn't apply either...so with that, the Bison managed to jam 7 of their pieces into that box only about 3/4 ways (that's what she said). It was a bummer and a crummer and you could see it on the Crew's face. Definitely the talk of the day as the Bison went into their run down 175 libres of pain. Pain was short lived however, as the Bison smoked home a 1st in Speed and Economy despite about 1 minute of penalties, maybe it was less who knows. Loading went well, yet the NDSU boys and gals were biting their nails a little bit thinking about Iowa State, Minnesota TC or North Dakota sneaking into second place. First Place, on the other hand, was not an issue after the Bison Box Incident of 2010. Lakehead, though initially worried about their pieces getting jammed in the "box" managed to avoid any penalty going into their run...and run they did. Sporting tools of obviously available materials (namely hockey sticks) they put forward a solid time, and as far as I could tell, had the only female assembler on their squad (I'm probably wrong on that), well done to you Canadians! Loading was superb for the Thunderwolves...1st Place in Stiffness and Efficiency...this I feel may or may not have been due to penalties to NDSU, probably would've been close.

So the big two out of the way leaving the possible spoilers to come and try to take their place in the circle...ahhhhhhnnnnt! denied, nobody could touch these two, just too much time on assembly to get close. Iowa State finished 3rd Place Overall.

Iowa, Minnesota Mankato, Platteville, Minnesota Twin Cities, and South Dakota State (who did a very good job hosting AND securing the Swiftel Center) all gave noble efforts, but as it was, Iowa and UWP both failed leaving UMM the only beam team to pass loading, well done on that build Mavericks!

When all was said and done, it was an impressive start for the Midwest, especially for mid/late March, where other teams will have to be more polished going in April...especially a certain team just West of Sacramento. Once again, I'd like to comment on the quality of bridge fabrication out of this conference, 2 maybe 3 of the non-qualifiers could've very well qualified in a few other conferences, however, they're stuck in a conference with the Bison and the Thunderwolves, and that leaves only one option: RAISE YOUR GAME (or pray for a load failure).

Random things I'll say about the trip & funny things that went down:

Best Quote: "It's hard to judge a school's Bridge when you hate their hockey team." Midwest Regional Judge during Display judging...I'm guessing he was from the Twin Cities.

About still sounds like "Aboot" out there.

Hey Stacy: "THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!"

The NDSU SBT is fighting for lab space just like the rest of us!

There are many a Finn in Thunder Bay.

Red River, scarier than the Sacramento River...and colder.

Simple, well balanced, well prepared bridges continue to dominate.

Bison Burgers are tasty...even while watching the Sioux win the Broadmoor.

20 degrees and 30 mph gusts are cold.

Some conferences have great faculty support, some don't, the Midwest is one of the Conferences that does, especially at the top of it. UC Davis professors take note...it ain't all about research and dollars, try to teach occasionally.

Daktronics: Built the Aggie Stadium scoreboard (not as nice as the one SDSU has but close)

Madison, WI >> Milwaukee, WI

Those qualified are equally as excited as I am of the notion of the NSSBC being held in Indiana. (my thumb is up with a Terminator smile, lawdeefriggin'dah!)

Thanks to Wrucke, Garrett, Gundy, Jordan, Stacy, Edwin, Big Egypt and all the folks at NDSU for letting me hang out and not being a bunch of "we're better than you" punks.

Love you guys.

SE Quickie

UCF has taken Gold at Auburn.

UA Huntsville has taken Southeast Concrete Canoe Gold. Link
(our hearts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those killed at UAH)

Not sure on any other qualifiers for Steel Bridge yet...

Gopher Bridge Ja!

From Minnesota there in the Twin Cities.

http://picasaweb.google.com/umnsteelbridge/SteelBridge20092010#

The Ware Lab

Virginia Techies get it done down in Ware.

http://www.vt.edu/spotlight/achievement/2010-03-22-ware/ware-lab.html

Lakehead Write Up

LinkMoose 1

Southeast

Nothing from Auburn as of yet...any results email: m.finn.turner@gmail.com

Midwest Results: V.2010

1st Place Overall: Lakehead University
2nd Place Overall: North Dakota State University
3rd Place Overall: Iowa State University

Longer, more detailed account of the events in Brookings to follow...but I will say that several weight penalties of the BOX variety were laid down on the Bison...Lakehead for the most part was clean throughout the competition, but it seems to this author that with some Mr. Clean work, the Bison have the better bridge at this point (in a penalty free head-to-header).

1st Economy - NDSU
1st Efficiency - Lakehead
1st Lightness - Iowa State
1st Stiffness - Lakehead
1st Speed - Lakehead
1st Display - Iowa State

Friday, March 19, 2010

Early Signs...

...point to Fargo. From what I hear, the Midwest is on top of their game again, so y'all better double time it. We'll see how she goes tomorrow. Buenos Noches Todos, time to take a long nap with Mr. Icehouse.

Well, I'm here...

Been checking things out, gonna catch up with the Bison this afternoon, hopefully my huevos won't freeze off...lol.

Having fun, big day tomorrow for these teams in the Midwest, I can sense the energy!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

To the Irish on Green Wednesday!



As down the glen one Easter morn
To a city fair rode I,
Their armed lines of marching men
In squadrons passed me by.
No pipe did hum, no battle drum
Did sound its loud tattoo
But the Angelus' bells o'er the Liffey's wells
Rang out in the foggy dew.

Right proudly high in Dublin town
Hung they out a flag of war.
'Twas better to die 'neath an Irish sky
Than at Suvla or Sud el Bar.
And from the plains of Royal Meath
Strong men came hurrying through;
While Brittania's Huns with their long-range guns
Sailed in through the foggy dew.

The bravest fell, and the requiem bell
Rang mournfully and clear
For those who died that Easter-tide
In the springing of the year.
While the world did gaze with deep amaze
At those fearless men but few
Who bore the fight that freedom's light
Might shine through the foggy dew.

And back through the glen I rode again
And my heart with grief was sore
For I parted then with valiant men
Whom I never shall see more
But to and fro
In my dreams I go
And I kneel and pray for you
For slavery fled
Oh, glorious dead
When you fell in the foggy dew

GFOS

The Godfather of Steel is coming to Brookings...



So Long Astoria...I mean Portland...until Monday.


Monday, March 15, 2010

UMKC Blurb

Blurbage Maximus...Linkycrunky hitttttttherrrrr.

Blue Hens Take First

Geotech Competition taken over by the University of Delaware!
9:14 a.m., March 15, 2010----A team of University of Delaware engineering students has taken top honors in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geo-Challenge Student Competition on Mechanically Stabilized Earth Wall Construction.
Linkimoophus!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

2009 NSSBC Picture Review

A nice team by team review from the Vegas NSSBC.

Pics courtesy of Drexel.

http://picasaweb.google.com/drex.sb2010

Saturday, March 13, 2010

SDS News

I was surprised with how well this guy said EVERYTHING about the upcoming competition in Brookings...didn't say one thing wrong, rare.

http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/87596882.html

City vs. Country

Looks like the Bison and the Highlanders are trading blows for who will dominate the hardest at Regionals this season.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

So, How's it Going?

How's the build coming along out there? Y'all gonna finish in time?...with EXTRA time? Ha ha ha, would love to hear from everybody. Gmail and Blogger are a wonderful thing.

Cheers! HERE'S TO NO LOADING FAILS BEFORE REGIONALS! AND ESPECIALLY NO LOADING FAILS DURING REGIONALS.

Monday, March 8, 2010

The Shamrock Run to the Midwest

Your Humble Narrator may be Amtraking it to Brookings next week from Portland. Any chance a herd of Bison could give an old Aggie a ride back to Fargo Saturday night?



(Twilight Blows)



Edit: March 8, 2010
To the 2 new followers today, thank you...or should I say Domo...(bowing in respect).

Friday, March 5, 2010

For Annoying Reasons

Open Thoughts: Regionals

So the Texas Mexico has already handled their business, and the qualifiers as they're known are as follows:

Texas A&M College Station

Texas San Antonio (2010 Tex-Mex hosts)


Having said that here's a look into the immediate future:


Midwest - South Dakota State University

Brookings, SD / March 19-20

Southeast - Auburn University
Auburn, AL / March 19-20

Deep South - University of New Orleans

NOLA / March 26-27

North Central - Western Michigan University

Kalamazoo, MI / March 26-28

Upstate New York - Rensselaer Polytechnic University
Troy, NY / April 8-9

Carolinas - Duke University
Durham, NC / April 8-10

Mid-Pacific - California State University, Chico
Chico, CA / April 8-10

Pacific Southwest - University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV / April 8-10

Rocky Mountain - New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM / April 8-10

New England - Tufts University
Medford, MA / April 10

Mid-Atlantic - Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA / April 10-11

Ohio Valley - University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY / April 22-24

Pacific Northwest - Washington State University

Pullman, WA / April 22-24

Great Lakes - Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Terre Haute, IN / April 23-24

Mid-Continent - University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK / April 23-24

Metropolitan - Fairleigh Dickinson University
Teaneck, NJ / April 23-25

Commentary to come soon on possible scenarios out of each conference...would like to hear from you!!! Feel free and easy to comment free and easy!!!

Poly All Decked Out

Vegas or Busto!
Go Poly!

Jacks set to host in Brookings

MIDWEST REGIONAL RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER

http://www.sdstate.edu/news/articles/bridge-building.cfm