A student team in Lehigh’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) won the award for best video in the 2023 Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Engineering Design Competition.

The team included Terence Briscoe ‘23, Constantine Patmanidis ’23 (now a master’s student in structural engineering), and PhD student Urinrin Otite. The students were advised by Clay Naito, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, and mentored by PCI producer member High Concrete Group LLC.

In PCI’s "Big Beam competition," students design, build, and test a 20-foot, precast, prestressed concrete beam. Entries are judged on a variety of criteria, including the beam’s performance in stress tests that simulate the types of real-life conditions structural building and infrastructure components must endure to ensure life safety, as well as the quality of their analysis and reports and a video overview of their project. 

The national competition, which is in its 23rd year, teaches college students important structural engineering skills in an applied learning environment that will benefit them in their future professions. The 2023 PCI Big Beam Competition was sponsored by ALP Supply and ASPIRE magazine.

Watch the Lehigh team’s award-winning video.

Founded in 1954, The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) is a technical institute for the precast concrete structures and systems industry. In PCI's "Big Beam competition," students design, build, and test a 20-foot, precast, prestressed concrete beam.