SEAOI acknowledges efforts of future engineers at 2012 State Science Fair

CHICAGO – Representatives from the SEAOI Central Chapter Young Engineers Committee attended the Illinois State Science Fair to judge and award the efforts of the next generation of structural engineers. The state wide educational competition is sponsored by the Illinois Junior Academy of Science (www.ijas.org) and brings together over 1000 of the top science projects prepared by students in seventh and eight grade (junior division) and high school level (senior division), hosted at the Assembly Hall on the University of Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana.

Selection of the top projects began at the school level with students competing against their classmates. The winners of the school competition advanced to the regional level where they competed against the top students from other schools. The winners of the regional competition met for the final round of state competition on May 5, 2012.

Irvin Lopez and Dan Lutz represented SEAOI in judging projects in the Engineering category. On behalf of the Board of Directors and all members of SEAOI, they presented a Certificate of Outstanding Achievement and a $100 gift card to the top project entered in the category. In addition, one other project was awarded a Certificate of Honorable Mention and a $50 gift card. SEAOI supports and encourages these young students to continue their interest in structural engineering through the presentation of these awards and acknowledgment of the effort they put forth.

At this year’s science fair, approximately 20 projects related to structural engineering were judged. Among these projects, many focused on testing bridges to determine the most efficient bridge type for a given span length. Other projects judged included investigations of structure responses to seismic loading, the efficiency of insulating and sound proofing materials, and the effect of moisture content on soil bearing capacity.

SEAOI presented the Outstanding Achievement award to Yash Hatkar and Hebron Taylor from Twin Groves Middle School in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, for their project titled "An Unstoppable Force”. These two young men tested several different popsicle stick towers of the same mass to determine which structure stayed connected to their homemade shake table the longest. Yash and Hebron both demonstrated a remarkable understanding of the basic principles of seismic analysis and design.

The Honorable Mention awards went to Andrew Shepley of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School for his project titled “Bridging the Gap between Success and Failure”. Andrew’s project investigated the efficiency of different bridge types and while his findings were similar to several other projects, his obvious passion for the subject made him stand out from the rest of the group.

SEAOI is committed to serving the structural engineers of today and inspiring the engineers of tomorrow. Our sincere congratulations to all students everywhere who worked to develop projects to test and investigate different aspects of structural engineering. The future belongs to these young inventors and innovators, and to their spirit of discovery.