Mining+Journal+Article

NHS bridge builders excel
By JOHANNA BOYLE Journal Ishpeming Bureau //POSTED: May 7, 2009//[|Save] | [|Print] | [|Email]

Article Photos
Negaunee Hight School seniors, from left, John Bourgeois, Anna Nurmela, Josh Paquet, Brad St. Germain, Alan Grimes, and Mario Marana look over a bridge that was constructed for Kevin Bell’s computer-aided design class. Four teams of three students from Bell’s class recently competed against 54 high school and junior high school students from across the state in a bridge building competition sponsored by the Michigan Department of Transportation. Bourgeois, St. Germain and Marana are a team that will compete against two teams from New Hampshire in the national semifinals on May 15. (Journal photo by Andy Nelson-Zaleski) NEGAUNEE - What do you get when you combine balsa wood, glue and a dozen Negaunee High School students? Prize-winning bridges. A team of students in Kevin Bell's computer-aided design class recently won first place in a statewide Michigan Department of Transportation bridge design and building competition. A second team has been named one of three teams in the country to participate in national competition. The Negaunee students competed against 35 other teams. "We treated it like a job," Bell said. "I always tell these guys that it's a resume builder for them. I thought they got a lot out of it." The 12-student class was split into four teams of three, all of which qualified for state competition. The team of Joe Vizena, Steve Ellingsen and Derek Turner took first place at the state competition for the suspension bridge category. "We had to find the most efficient way to make the bridge," Vizena said. The bridges were tested with different weight levels until they broke, with the final score taking into account both the weight held and the total weight of the bridge. Holding 252 pounds, the winning bridge weighed 168 ounces. The bridge held more than 100 pounds more than the second place winner. Teams were picked to attend the state competition based on lengthy proposals that included drawings and design work, Bell said. Besides the performance of their bridge, teams were judged on a 10-minute presentation given before judges and a display table detailing their work over the past few months. "You have to be able to talk about the process," Bell said. "There's a professional part of it, too." On May 15, a second team made up of John Bourgeois, Mario Marana and Brad St. Germain will travel to Bedford, Pa., for the national competition, in which they will compete against two teams from New Hampshire. The program, called Transportation and Civil Engineering - or TRAC - is put together by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and has been offered by MDOT since 2004. It is designed to interest students in careers as civil engineers by teaching them not only the design aspects, but also how to write and present information as an engineer. "A lot of students that I have in this class are in physics and upper level math," Bell said. Other students have chosen to take welding or other industrial arts classes "It's a pretty diverse group, he said."