The Regional Bridge Building contest was held Tuesday, February 8th, at Illinois Institute of Technology. The contest was broken into three regions, South Suburbs, North Suburbs and the City of Chicago. In the South Suburbs Region, Lincoln-Way East students Andrew Nilsson, Kyle Arnold, Andrew Bollman, and Jacob Chay placed 1st, 3rd, 7th and 11th respectfully.
Andrew Nilsson’s bridge won the contest with an efficiency of 2705. His bridge had a mass around 14 grams (about the mass of 3 nickels) and held approximately 40 kg (about 90 pounds). The winning bridge is determined by efficiency. The equation for efficiency is the mass held divided by the mass of the bridge. Efficiency states that the bridge held 2705 times its own mass. Andrew also had the highest efficiency in all three regions. Andrew's bride won the Garcher Trophy. This trophy is awarded to the most efficient bridge in the three Chicago regions. The trophy is named in honor of the founder of Midwest Products, a big supporter of this contest in its early days.
Andrew Nillson is now eligible to represent Lincoln-Way East at the International Bridge Building Contest. This International Contest will be held in Covington Township, Pennsylvania on Saturday, May 7, 2022. It is great to see the students work on projects outside of the classroom and relate them to topics learned in the classroom. It was obvious from their designs and results, that these students devoted a lot of hard work and time into this project. Lincoln-Way District Schools had 6 of the top 10 spots.
