PU articu

http://www.jconline.com/article/20100530/NEWS0501/5300353/Bridge-builders-bring-their-best

Don't Hold Your Breath

Not gonna really break it down this season...unless...(see below). Hopefully y'all got some stories to bring back with you. Had a lot of fun at Purdue. Thank you Purdue (definitely put the "Boiler" in Boilermaker), still, beautiful campus, great people, fun NSSBC to be at.

Well done all!

***If there are 20+ comments wanting "NSSBC Awards", I'll do it, no repeats, ha ha, feel free to drop in your favorite part of the weekend too...and no, you can't say winning an award if you won one...Bison, Bears, T'Wolves, and the rest of y'all, talking to you ;)

http://www.nssbc.info/History/2010NSSBCResults.pdf

Whew, finally back with you LIVE

...So many a team seem competitive this season...lots of trusses...lots of stacks, and "brass balls" to UTSA and Laval for brining the singles. Lakehead, Cal and those Bison look tough but we'll see what happens tonight. The Aggies of Davis, hmmm, yeah, they had a hot run, but it feels like too much deflection. Regardless, looking forward to the banquet tonight...I personally, am going to miss Elvis. Great weather and good people make for an enjoyable NSSBC experience...So Far So Good. Cheers (Millers up right now)...

50/50

It's a coin flip whether or not Your Humble Narrator gets on a plane for Purdue.  Our crack scheduling squad of one had an insecure stand by...and now travel costs may go up 400%, uh no if is necessary...cut off at 250% markup.

For the Boilermakers.

FLY HIGH! SEE YOU IN INDIANA!

First Round

...is on Turner at the Nine Irish Brothers on Howard Avenue Thursday night.

Kippis!

Yeah, so a little mini-conversation of the upcoming week with an Amigo Fargo about conditions in "Go Big" Country.

West Lafayette Weather:
http://www.wunderground.com/US/IN/West_Lafayette.html

Friday at the Engineering Mall: could rain. Watch for Thunder!!!
Saturday in the Armory: hopefully not a one level pseudo-Mosh Pit free for all.

Can't wait to get to the Midwest (did I just type that?) YES!

Upstate Update

Defending champion SUNY Canton did not compete in the 2010 Upstate regional at RPI, hopefully, not the end of an era.

Results were as follows:

1st Overall - ETS Montreal
2nd Overall - University of Buffalo
3rd Overall - United States Military Academy at West Point

HOOAH!

Resultados Totales:

Overall Rankings

• 1st - ETS
• 2nd - UB
• 3rd - USMA
• 4th - HVCC
• 5th - Cornell
• 6th - Clarkson
• 7th - RPI
• 8th - RIT
• Did not compete - Syracuse
• Did not compete - SUNY Canton
• Did not compete - SUNY IT

(not entirely sure if the UB/ETS placements are correct, the overall scorecard has them switched up...regardless, qualified eh?!!!)

Javelina Pride

TAMUK lady goes over some of the Javelina's past in ASCE Competitions.

http://javelinapride.net/drb/tag/civil-engineering/

Hey!

Purdue's having a competition at their place!

http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/events/2010/100519ConnorSteelBridge.html

Sources:

Robert Connor, 765-496-8272, rconnor@purdue.edu

Emily Foote - eafoote@purdue.edu

Joe Mueller - jmmuelle@purdue.edu

Nick Ulliman, competition assistant director, 765-418-9976, nulliman@purdue.edu

UVMage

When they're not making the World's best ice cream, they're making bridge.

http://www.uvm.edu/~cems/?Page=News&storyID=16599

Two Weeks

Until total domination. Right? ha ha

NJIT: New One

Highlanders take the High Road...again, must be nice to the media on your side every year.

http://www.njit.edu/features/sceneandheard/steelbridge-2010.php

Laaaaaaaaaaa, La, Laaaaaaaaaaaa

Well, the Spring Games are done, the semester schools are done, and the quarter schools are staring down finals while simultaneously finishing their class projects, and prepping for the NSSBC. It's definitely that time of year again...where the ones who get blasted academically try to prove that you can study your ass off and compete well at Nationals all in the same time frame...and those others are trying to prove to the quarter people, that hey, life is short, you should've gone to a semester school and enjoyed the road trip.

Happy Mother's Day

You're the best Mom. Love you!

How 'bout them Leopards

Civil engineering seniors work to extend run of strong finishes in national competition

You might say they're building a bridge to their futures. Each spring, several seniors majoring in civil engineering compete against their peers from around the country to see who can design and build the best bridge at the lowest cost. The real-world experience can be invaluable as they prepare to pursue graduate degrees and careers in civil engineering.

Lafayette's Steel Bridge Team will be making its fifth trip to the National Student Steel Bridge Competition in the last six years. The team placed seventh at nationals last year and fifth the year before. The competition, which is sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers, attracts more than 200 engineering schools to 19 regional competitions throughout the country. The national competition will be held May 28-29 at Purdue University.

Getting to the national level requires a lot of hard work by the team members, whose participation is an independent study with Stephen Kurtz, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. To succeed, students draw on skills they have learned in engineering courses such as Statics, Strength of Materials, and Structural Analysis and Steel Design. They must be able to execute a big-picture conceptual analysis as well as attend to tiny details. They also learn how to produce professional-quality drawings and manage a construction project.

"The National Student Steel Bridge Competition is the best learning experience that a future structural engineer can have," Kurtz says. "It actually surpasses professional projects in the real world due to the fact that it is a competitive exercise that encourages students to consider unconventional and risky ideas--‘unconventional’ and ‘risky’ are two adjectives that are frowned upon in the real world."

This year's team includes Wystan Carswell (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.), Jason Garman (Seymour, Conn.), Tim Polson (Wilton, N.H.), Matthew Reichenbach (Kingsville, Md.), Jeff Shoemaker (Schnecksville, Pa.), and Mark Sliwinski (Glen Ridge, N.J.).

"Structures are a passion of mine and I’m a naturally competitive person, so the bridge competition seemed to be the perfect event for me," Reichenbach says.

Polson has been interested in structural engineering since high school and chose to attend Lafayette partly because of the opportunity to be a part of the team. "I targeted college programs that had either specific concentrations in structural engineering or unique project opportunities for students. Lafayette's regular participation and annual success in the national competition was a contributing factor for me deciding to come here," he says.

"The Steel Bridge team has for several years had a prestige amongst Lafayette civil engineers as an elite society of the 'hardcore' and the elite engineers--or perhaps the ones who are just a bit crazy," says Carswell, the lone female on this year's team. "It is expected that we will lose sleep over the design and fabrication of the bridge, and that the work will be hard and time-consuming."

The rules for the competition change each year, so teams must constantly adapt to produce a viable design. Lafayette's team spent from August until December this past fall meticulously designing, testing, and analyzing potential components of the bridge. The students started fabrication in January and have made adjustments along the way.

"When confronted with a problem, we are forced to diagnose the issue and resolve the matter immediately in order to keep to our schedule. I believe that this ability to identify a problem and produce a viable solution will prove to be beneficial in both academic and professional realms," Polson says.

It's over.

JaMarcus Russell is officially done in Oakland, now, when the millions are gone on booze, broads and Krispy Kremes, he'll be stuck under some bridge in Alabama (that was designed by somebody reading this) drinking Carlo Rossi out of a dixie cup.

SHARKS!

The slaughter continues tonight.

Miles and miles...

...well it seems the men and women of Manoa will be taking top honors in distance traveled to the NSSBC once again this year. Y'all rock in my book.

tick tick tick tick

Only 3 short weeks away now. Stand by.

Thoughts and Prayers

To the people of Vanderbilt and the City of Nashville. May the road to recovery be swift!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Anybody who hasn't been affected by the beautiful culture of Mexico by now REALLY needs to get out more.

Vandals Qualify

Break out the cans, time to tag the Boilermaker.

http://www.asui.uidaho.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=2

Sweet little heartbreaker....

....http://www.fox28.com/Global/story.asp?S=12430629

N-J-I-T, NJIT, NJIT, NJITS!!!!

Highland rock.

What's Going on in Missouri???

Clearly, the outside the box mentality of 2010 is coming from the SHOW ME STATE.
















http://www.flickr.com/photos/missourisandt/sets/72157623991434280/

Bricom ASIA 2010

Straight from the ABC
Kasetsart University
Chalermphrakiat Sakon
Nashkon Province Campus
Thailand

A Wee Bit 'Bout a Helluva an Engineer

Georgia Tech performs well overall at Carolinas.

http://www.ce.gatech.edu/news/420/74/Georgia-Tech-s-ASCE-Student-Chapter-Competes-in-Carolinas-Conference/

KU KU KACHOO

New Blood to be showcased in West Lafayette...

Welcome Jayhawks!

http://cjonline.com/news/education/2010-05-03/ku_bridge_builders_to_nationals

http://www.news.ku.edu/2010/may/3/steelbridge.shtml

http://www.articleant.com/gen/77703-steel-bridge-team-earns-spot-at-national-competition.html

FOR IKE!!!

Slice O' Da Engineer

M.I.T. gets all written up!

Linkineer

(Pink Shirts, nice.)

la grande liste

TEXAS MEXICO:
Texas A&M College Station
Texas San Antonio

MIDWEST:
Lakehead
North Dakota State

SOUTHEAST:
Central Florida
Florida
Southern Poly
Florida International

DEEP SOUTH:
Louisiana State
??? (UNO?)

NORTH CENTRAL:
Michigan
Michigan State

UPSTATE NEW YORK:
ETS Montreal
Buffalo
United States Military Academy (HOOAH!)

CAROLINAS:
Clemson
The Citadel

MID-PACIFIC:
UC Berkeley
UC Davis

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST:
Cal Poly SLO
Hawai'i, Manoa
CSU Northridge

ROCKY MOUNTAIN:
South Dakota SMT
???

NEW ENGLAND:
M.I.T.
UConn
Université Laval

VIRGINIAS
Virginia Tech (guessing)
Howard University

MID-ATLANTIC:
Drexel
Lafayette

OHIO VALLEY:
Akron
Youngstown State
The Ohio State University

PACIFIC NORTHWEST:
Washington State
British Columbia
Idaho

GREAT LAKES:
??? (Wisconsin?)
??? (MSOE?)
??? (IIT?)

MID-CONTINENT:
Steel Willie
Kansas
SIU Edwardsville (assuming 3 qualify for Purdue)

METROPOLITAN:
NJIT
Cooper Union

2010 NSSBC HOST:
PURDUE

Reminder

It's always important to remember that the closer it gets to Purdue, time gets short, and you may start to lose your temper. You don't have to take it out on your teammates or roommates, but you do have to get it out somehow. So pick your places wisely to blow off steam.