Orange County Branch Newsletter

May 2019

ASCE OC K-12

Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition 2019

By Jared Lindo | K-12 Committee Co-Chair

The 25^th Annual Popsicle Stick Bridge Competition (PSBC) was held on March 23, 2019 and put on by the Los Angeles YMF at Cal Poly Pomona's Campus. The hosting of this competition is alternated biannually between Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Bernadino/Riverside ASCE YMF’s with volunteers contributing from each organization. PSBC is an educational competition between local high school students throughout Southern California with hundreds of local high school students participating in a full day of competition to exhibit their knowledge of engineering, to be provided mentoring between generations and to bring together the engineering community. There were many stringent requirements the students had to consider when constructing their bridges, along with having to prepare a technical presentation and display. Students were broken into groups where multiple activities, testing, judging and presenting were held at the same time. The activities held were put on by the Cal Poly Pomona College students where it provided the opportunity for college students to interact with high school students and to showcase the engineering department and activities. The bridges that were constructed by the high school students were put to the test by using a weighted mechanism gradually increasing the weight until reaching the final weight or yielding. The students presented what they constructed and learned with a judged presentation. Once all of the activities were completed judging points were tallied and students were all recognized for their innovative bridge designs, where a select few received awards and special recognition. Overall each of the students learned a lot about structures, teamwork, presenting, and had a lot of fun in the process.

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