A team of four students won the annual popsicle stick bridge building contest, held Wednesday, Nov. 16 in McMichael science building.
Andrew Walecka, Kristopher Mannen, Phillip Grubaugh and David Margolis, pictured at right, won the contest by constructing a bridge which held 16.4 kg of mass before collapsing, a new record for the competition. The second place team consisted of Nicole Ellis, Kristen Owens, Allison Barratt and Kristen Crisara, whose bridge withstood 12.3 kg of weight. In third place was Kali Marquardt, Eric Sass, Cassie Cosentino and Beth Rice. Their bridge held 11.7 kg of mass.
Students must construct a bridge from a predetermined number of popsicle sticks and glue. The bridge must be of a minimum length and span between two tables. Using S-hooks, a bucket is suspended below each bridge and sand is added to the bucket until the bridge collapses.
Before the contest, participants and faculty members from the physics and engineering departments gathered for a pizza party in McMichael.