Faculty Advisors:
Dr. Antony Gillies
Dr. Timo Tikka

Media Release
From the Office of Communications
Phone 343-8177 or fax 346-7770

Lakehead’s Bridge Builders Take Fifth Place at U.S. National Competition
(Thunder Bay, May 28, 2003)

Lakehead University’s Civil Engineering bridge building team took fifth place this past weekend in the American Institute of Steel Construction/American Society for Civil Engineering U.S. National Student Steel Bridge Competition at San Diego State University.

This year’s eight-member team consists of Paul Turner, Brian Mashford, Charles Chataway, George McKay, Mark Rustan, James Neufeld, Tim Saunders and Darryl Robertson. Dr. Tony Gillies and Dr. Timo Tikka assisted as faculty advisors to the team.

“That is a remarkable placement — being 5th out of 44 teams is proof that our students are among the finest in their field,” says Dr. Gillies. “Their dedication and determination to be the best team possible really shows in their accomplishments at the Nationals. This event is a wonderful learning experience for them and it is something that they will be able to bring with them to their careers as civil engineers.”

The competition challenges Civil Engineering students to design, fabricate and construct a steel bridge based on a problem statement. Criteria for excellence are represented by the award categories of stiffness, lightness, construction speed, aesthetics, efficiency and economy. Lakehead placed in the top five for economy, efficiency, speed and lightness. Standards for strength, durability, constructability, usability, and safety reflect the volumes of regulations that govern the design and construction of full-scale bridges.
“At the regionals, our bridge took five minutes and thirty seconds to build,” Dr. Gillies says. “The team worked extremely hard over the past month to construct a new bridge which could be built under a minute and thirty seconds, and they were successful with a time of 1:24.”

Dr. Gillies says that Lakehead University has consistently placed well at both the Regional and National event, and Lakehead’s bridge always gets a lot of attention. “It’s one of the bridges that people seek out at these events — everyone wants to see what we’ve done this year,” he says.

The only other Canadian team to qualify to compete at the Nationals was UBC, who placed 20th. The U.S. National Student Steel Bridge competition was held May 23 and 24, 2003.


Contact: Marla Tomlinson, Communications Officer, Lakehead University, 807-343-8177
Communications@lakeheadu.ca www.lakeheadu.ca