• Billiken Teams
     

    ST. LOUIS, MO. March 6, 2013– Two teams from Gateway STEM High School have taken top honors in this year’s annual Billiken “Building Engineering Awareness in Metro Saint Louis Schools” (BEAMS) Competition.  Hosted by St. Louis University's American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) chapter and Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, the competition was designed to foster an interest in engineering among area high school students.

     

    This year’s challenge, “A Bridge to Civil Engineering,” asked teams to construct a supported road-based bridge out of balsa wood, with the winning team designing, constructing and testing the most effective bridge that meets competition evaluation criteria. Efficiency (E) was calculated as E = load supported (lbs) / weight of bridge (lbs).

     

    This year’s Billiken BEAMS winning teams from Gateway STEM High School are:

    First Place Overall: Traun Le, senior, and Tyrone Maufas II, junior

    Third Place Overall: Aaron Petty, junior, and Nick McKee, junior

     

    Maufas and Le’s bridge weighed only 89.1 grams (0.196 lb) and held 99.6 lbs, earning first place in efficiency.  When asked how they did it, Maufas responded, “We have been working with ASCE students at SLU since November to design our bridge. There were many challenges, but we learned from our mistakes.”

     

    Petty and McKee’s bridge weighed 98.6 grams (0.217 lb) and held 75 lbs, earning second place in efficiency. When asked what they would do to improve their design, Petty responded, “It was a good experience. Knowing what I know now, I would have built the bridge lighter, reinforced the low points to be as strong as possible, and connected more joints to members.”

     

    Notably, all team members are enrolled in the Project Lead the Way pre-engineering pathway at Gateway STEM High School. For more information regarding this release, please contact the Office of Public Information at (314) 345-2367.

     

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    Pictured (Left to Right): Traun Le and Tyrone Maufas II, first place winners, and Nick McKee and Aaron Petty, third place winners.