UB engineers built bridges and textbook-opening contraptions on Tuesday as part of UB's observance of National Engineers Week, which will continue through Saturday.
E-Week at UB is a way for the University's many engineering students to apply their skills and get hands-on experience, according to Jessica James, engineering coordinator for UB. James explained that the event will also promote the students' work at the university.
"It's a great way to promote engineering because I don't think there are a lot of people who are too interested in it," she said. "Usually the clubs participate, but if there is someone who really wants to participate we'll make sure they have the materials to mess with."
According to James, the clubs have created and organized all of the events.
"What I have is all the clubs hosting their own events so they thought of things, bought their own materials and created the rules," she said. "They cover all the ranges of engineering."
Seven engineering clubs struggled to build miniature bridges out of a maximum of 200 Popsicle sticks and four glue sticks within a 60-minute time limit on Tuesday. After the hard work constructing the bridges, the teams' entries were put to the test under some weight.
Engineers Without Borders (EWB) won the competition with a structure that remained strong with 100 pounds of weight hanging from it.
Emmanuel Giraneza, EWB member and junior civil engineering major, said it was the team's 25 minutes of preparation that made a difference.
"Our bridge has not broken yet, [and] they have done two trials. I believe the first bucket was full so they started with 20-pound weights. Our structure isn't failing," Giraneza said, while organizers continued to weigh down his team's construction with play sand.
Plastic buckets were filled with sand until the bridges buckled under the weight. The ratio between the weight of the bridge and the weight it supported determined the winner of the competition.
Five clubs stuck around after the bridge competition for the Rube Goldberg Machine Competition that called for teams to build a machine that would open a textbook on its own in three actions.
Clubs and organizations worked with PVC pipes, dowel rods, marbles, clay pots, string, duct tape, sticky tack and other tools to build their contraptions.
UB Robotics created the winning design.
Throughout the week, the clubs will accumulate points for participating in events. The club with the most points at the end of the week will be awarded $500. The team with the second highest amount of points will receive $200.
Many activities were newly incorporated into this year's schedule of events including Monday's Engineering Jeopardy.
The Mr. and Mrs. Engineering Pageant was also held on Monday, culminating in the crowning of Guy Tuori, a junior computer engineering major, and Hiromi Yoshida, a chemical and biological engineering major.
According to James, many of E-week's most popular activities will occur later this week.
"There will be a pressurized car race tomorrow. I think that will be a big one - building cars out of Legos and racing it with water and a bike pump to fill it with water and air," she said.
James explained that Balse gliders and Bot Wars are notoriously the week's biggest events.
"Balse gliders will be pretty popular on Thursday. Bot Wars is Friday - that is the big one. The Union is usually full for that one. Clubs build robots that fight against each other. There will be an arena here and they have a limited time round," James said.
Bot Wars, which was created by UB Robotics, has been an E-Week tradition. There will be three judges from the engineering industry including companies Fisher-Price and Northrop Grumman, who will determine the winners.
Many of the events are hands-on, but the schedule also includes a lecture series and a Club/Civic Engagement Display.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
