The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Judging Committee recently selected the winners of the Engineering Student Design Competition, also known as the Big Beam Contest.
PCI’s Student Education Committee (Dr. Sergio Breña, Chair) organized the Big Beam Contest (sponsored by SIKA Corp., PTAC, and ASPIRE Magazine) and assigned the judging committee (Dr. Richard Miller, Chair). The objective is for teams of students to fabricate and test a precast/prestressed concrete beam with the help of local precast concrete PCI producer members. Prizes are awarded to the top 20 performers in consideration of efficient design, highest load capacity, and other categories.
Entries were ranked by total number of points earned per the contest rules. The first place team, for the second year in a row, was from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.
All videos are posted here on PCI’s Big Beam Channel on YouTube.
Overall Results
First place: University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame, Ind. (Zone 4)
Faculty advisor: Yahya Kurama, PhD, PE
PCI producer: StresCore, Inc.; South Bend, Ind. (John Reihl)
Student team: Megan McKeon, Luis Gabriel Muñoz Dispa, Tyler Thompson, Thomas Sweeney, Anna Spatz, Molly O'Toole, Ryan Shea
Points: 62.25
Award: $2000, plus other prizes
Second place: Saint Martin’s University; Lacey, Wash. (Zone 1)*
Faculty advisor: Jill Walsh, PhD
PCI producer: Concrete Technology Corporation; Tacoma, Wash. (Austin Maue)
Student team: William J. Miller III, Micaylla O'Leary, Madeline Knecht, Jessica De Boer, Anthony Merlino, Kyle Howlett
Points: 58.25
Award: $1,750
Third place: Oregon State University; Corvallis, Ore. (Zone 1)
Faculty advisor: Keith Kaufman, PhD, PE
PCI producer: Knife River - Prestress; Harrisburg, Ore. (Keith Kaufman)
Student team: Tyler Oathes, Cody Tibbits, Neil Schweitzer, Taylor Kiefel, Anh Nguyen, Jonathan Kopp
Points: 56.25
Award: $1,500
Fourth place: University of South Florida [Team 2]; Tampa, Fla. (Zone 6)
Faculty advisor: Rajan Sen, PhD, PE
PCI producer: Standard Concrete Products; Tampa, Fla. (Ryan Cartwright)
Student team: Arlind Aliaj, Tanya Anisimova, Nelson Figueroa, Daniel Hagerman, Andrew Williams
Points: 54.75
Award: $1,250
Fifth place: Missouri University of Science and Technology; Rolla, Mo. (Zone 3)
Faculty advisor: John Myers, PhD, PE
PCI producer: Coreslab Structures, Inc (Missouri); Marshall, Mo. (Jim Myers)
Student team: Eli S. Hernandez, Hayder Alghazali, Saipavan Rallabhandhi
Points: 54.5
Award: $1,000
Sixth place: University of South Florida [Team 1]; Tampa, Fla. (Zone 6)
Faculty advisor: Rajan Sen, PhD, PE
PCI producer: Standard Concrete Products; Tampa, Fla. (Ryan Cartwright)
Student team: Sandra Buitrago Gutierrez, Mohammed Alamri, Amjed Salhabaltamimi, Luiz Antonio Braga Jacintho
Points: 54.25
Award: $1.000
Seventh place: University of Alabama [Team Jelly Beam]; Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Zone 6)
Faculty advisor: Sriram Aaleti, PhD
PCI producer: Gate Precast; Monroeville, Ala. (Mark Ledkins)
Student team: Vidya Sagar Ronanki, Saeid Hayati, David Burkhalter, Md. Kobir Hossain
Points: 53.25
Award: $1,000
Eighth place: University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, Calif. (Zone 1)
Faculty advisor: Jose Restrepo, PhD
PCI producer: Oldcastle Precast, Inc.; Perris, Calif. (Jon Grafton)
Student team: David E. Duck, Farshad Alimohamamdi, Mohamed ElGabaly, Rainbow Lin
Points: 51.75
Award: $1,000
Ninth place (tie): Iowa State University [Team 1]; Ames, Iowa (Zone 3)
Faculty advisor: Sri Sritharan, PhD
PCI producer: Forterra Pipe and Precast; West Des Moines, Iowa (Jeff Butler)
Student team: Michael Rosenthal, Nathan Scharenbrock, Anmol Pakhale
Points: 51.25
Award: $1,000
Ninth place (tie): Lehigh University [Team 1]; Bethlehem, Pa. (Zone 5)
Faculty advisor: Clay Naito, PhD, PE
PCI producer: J&R Slaw, Inc.; Lehighton, Pa. (Robert Slaw)
Student team: Robin Hendricks, John Thompson
Points: 51.25
Award: $1,000
Eleventh place: Lehigh University [Team 2]; Bethlehem, Pa. (Zone 5)
Faculty advisor: Clay Naito, PhD, PE
PCI producer: J&R Slaw, Inc.; Lehighton, Pa. (Robert Slaw)
Student team: Joseph Ingaglio, Carly Daitch, Rebecca Milano
Points: 48.25
Award: $1,000
Twelfth place (tie): Western University [Team 1]; London, Ontario, Canada (Zone 7)
Faculty advisor: Aiham Adawi, PhD, P.Eng.
PCI producer: Prestressed Systems, Inc.; Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Anil Mehta)
Student team: Rob Kuehnen, Khalid Backtash, Li Hao Zhang, Brendon Tan, Erik Mahon, Alexander Riveros
Points: 45.5
Award: $500
Fourteenth place: California State University, Sacramento; Sacramento, Calif. (Zone 1)
Faculty advisor: Eric Matsumoto, PhD, PE
PCI producer: Clark Pacific; Woodland, Calif. (Glen Underwood)
Student team: Bryce Leuschen, Alex Switzgable, Alex Biaheza, Matthew James, Vince Anicich, Ivan Tulao, Jaber Tannous
Points: 43.25
Award: $500
Fifteenth place: University of Kansas [Team 4]; Lawrence, Kan. (Zone 3)
Faculty advisor: Bob Lyon, PhD, PE
PCI producer: Coreslab Structures; Kansas City, Kan. (Terry Fleck)
Student team: Brian Robertson, Triveni Mudaliar, Amin Dehghani
Points: 42.75
Award: $500
Sixteenth place: University of Windsor; Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Zone 7)
Faculty advisor: Amr El Ragaby, PhD, P.Eng.PCI producer: Prestressed Systems, Inc.; Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Anil Mehta)
Student team: Junaid Khan, Omar Albarazi, Majed Alkheriji, Alaeldeen Abdelmoneim, Sofia Tahat
Points: 40.5
Award: $250
Seventeenth place: University of Kansas [Team 3]; Lawrence, Kan. (Zone 3)
Faculty advisor: Bob Lyon, PhD, PE
PCI producer: Coreslab Structures; Kansas City, Kan. (Terry Fleck)
Student team: Shahedreen Ameen, Sean Cameron, Rezoana Islam
Points: 40
Award: $250
Eighteenth place: Iowa State University [Team 2]; Ames, Iowa (Zone 3)
Faculty advisor: Sri Sritharan, PhD
PCI producer: Forterra Pipe and Precast; West Des Moines, Iowa (Jeff Butler)
Student team: Michailina Hadjiyiangou, Chetan Swarn, Satyam Mandloi, Praveen Rajasekar
Points: 39.75
Award: $250
Nineteenth place: University of Kansas [Team 1]; Lawrence, Kan. (Zone 3)
Faculty advisor: Bob Lyon, PhD, PE
PCI producer: Coreslab Structures; Kansas City, Kan. (Terry Fleck)
Student team: Sajed Huq, Ryan Landreneau, Kelly Lowe
Points: 39
Award: $250
Twentieth place: University of Kansas [Team 2]; Lawrence, Kan. (Zone 3)
Faculty advisor: Bob Lyon, PhD, PE
PCI producer: Coreslab Structures; Kansas City, Kan. (Terry Fleck)
Student team: Alexander Weber-Kamin, Zahra Andalib, Meredith Megaffin, Mahesh Mediboyina
Points: 38.5
Award: $250
Best Report
The judging committee considers the overall presentation of the report when deciding on a best report winner. In addition to verifying the report contains all the requested sections and required signatures, judges look for clear presentation of data, professional look and formatting, and an overall well-written report.
University of Alabama [Team Jelly Beam]; Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Zone 6)
Faculty advisor: Sriram Aaleti, PhD, P.Eng.
PCI producer: Gate Precast; Monroeville, Ala. (Mark Ledkins)
Student team: Vidya Sagar Ronanki, Saeid Hayati, David Burkhalter, Md. Kobir Hossain
Award: $500
Best Video
Contest requirements include a video taken of the beam being tested. Teams are encouraged to be as creative as they wish when preparing the final video. Videos with a storyline related to the big beam competition are clear standouts and the judging committee may elect an entry to receive a best video award.
Iowa State University [Team 1]; Ames, Iowa (Zone 3)
Faculty advisor: Sri Sritharan, PhD
PCI producer: Forterra Pipe and Precast; West Des Moines, Iowa (Jeff Butler)
Student team: Michael Rosenthal, Nathan Scharenbrock, Anmol Pakhale
Award: $500
Honorable Mentions
Western University [Team 1]; London, Ontario, Canada (Zone 7)
Faculty advisor: Aiham Adawi, PhD, P.Eng.
PCI producer: Prestressed Systems, Inc.; Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Anil Mehta)
Student team: Rob Kuehnen, Khalid Backtash, Li Hao Zhang, Brendon Tan, Erik Mahon, Alexander Riveros
University of California, San Diego; La Jolla, Calif. (Zone 1)
Faculty advisor: Jose Restrepo, PhD
PCI producer: Oldcastle Precast, Inc.; Perris, Calif. (Jon Grafton)
Student team: David E. Duck, Farshad Alimohamamdi, Mohamed ElGabaly, Rainbow Lin
