Engineering Now .: Volume 2 - Edition 9 .: March 29, 2006
The bridges of Western Engineering
By Erin Clifford
What do you get when you take 41 Engineering students and add 5 judges? One great competition.
The 9th Annual City of London Design Competition took place Tuesday, March 7, 2006 in the Spencer Engineering Building. Eight teams of fourth-year Civil and Environmental Engineering students presented their proposals for the Sarnia Road CPR Overpass and the Vauxhall Pollution Control Plant.
The teams consisted of:
1. Solid Structural Engineering (SSE): Julie Bui, Christine Costa, Hanan Khalil, Scott Norris, and Rob Vandenberg;
2. SS Engineering Inc.: Ryan Declercq, Christopher Doering, Alexander Dowell, David Gatey, and Thomas Greenough;
3. GlobeX Corporation: Dan Barber, Allen Chen, Moges Gebreleoul, Harit Kittiampon, and Timothy Norton;
4. ENVIROFLOW Engineering Solutions: Ryan Aarts, Erin Cullen, Anthony Digiandomenico, Stephen Monteith, Andrew Pickard, and Marc St-Germ
5. SGBGW Consulting Limited: Edward Beadle, Allan Garnham, Shawn Gettler, Greg Stokkermans, and Jason Wedlake;
6. BridgeTRON Associates: Matt Davidson, Janice Fay, Peter Kim, Elisabeth Stützel, and Emma Wilkinson;
7. M5 Construction Solutions: Matt Baird, Mustofa Gaffar, Hozefa Jivajee, Khaleel Mustapha, and Khaled Shawesh; and
8. PDD & JE Structural Engineering Inc.: Dennis Chow, Johnny Huen, Peter Olendzki, Dan Saccon, and Eric Yin.
Mr. Peter Steblin, General Manager of Environmental and Engineering Services & City Engineer, welcomed those in attendance by acknowledging that there are 3 principle reasons for engineers to take part in this competition. Students were told they participate to “honour those that have come before us, to show respect for your profession, and to invest in your future.”
The London City Design Competition is the “flagship of our undergraduate program,” stated Dr. Ernest Yanful, Department Chair, Western Engineering Civil and Environmental Engineering, during his opening address. “It is an important component of the academic program we run at Western,” he further explains. This design also offers students an open-ended problem with endless possible solutions. It shows the imagination and innovation of Western Engineering.
After each presentation the judges were allowed to ask two questions and after nearly an hour and a half of presentations, the groups had a chance to answer questions from the general public. The judges then left to deliberate on the nine hours of information they had gathered on the proposals. And the winners are:
3rd Place - $750 – BridgeTRON Associates for their steel box
girder alternative
2nd Place - $1000 – SS Engineering Inc. for their concrete box
girder alternative
1st Place - $2000 – Solid Structural Engineering for their
innovation to tradition
The first year of the City of London Design Competition presented 10 different alternatives for the Gibbons Park Bridge that originally had to be taken in and out every season. The Steel Girder Alternative was built in 1998 and was a design presented in this very competition by Western Engineering students.
Even though there were only three prizes awarded every students walked out of the competition a winner. “The whole competition was wonderful as usual,” said Dr. Mike Bartlett, faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.. “Western Engineering has a wonderful tradition of magical things happening.” This year’s competition was no exception.
Also from this web page:
Contact
.: Allison Stevenson
Spencer Engineering Building, Room 2074
Telephone: (519) 850-2917 Fax: (519) 661-3808
contactweATeng.uwo.ca
