A team of students from Lehigh’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) took second place overall and won the awards for best report and best video in the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute’s (PCI) 2024 Engineering Design Competition held in September.
The “Big Beam competition,” which marked its 24th year, teaches college students important structural engineering skills in an applied learning environment that will benefit them in their future professions.
The Lehigh team members were undergraduates Ryan Bruce ’24, Ryder Henry ’24, and Peter Misiewicz ’24, and structural engineering master’s students Taryn Ross and Kate Springsteen. The students were advised by Clay Naito, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, and mentored by PCI producer member Northeast Prestressed Products.
According to PCI: Teams of students and a faculty advisor design, build, and test a 20-foot, precast, prestressed concrete beam. Local PCI-certified precast concrete producers mentor and fabricate the beams for the teams. Entries are judged on a variety of criteria, including the beam’s load-resisting performance in tests that simulate 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.
Watch the Lehigh’ team’s award-winning video
“The Big Beam competition is the foundation of PCI’s mission to support and promote student education initiatives,” said Bob Risser, PCI president and CEO. “The future of the precast, prestressed concrete industry is in good hands, judging by all of the entries.”
The competition was sponsored by ALP Supply and ASPIRE magazine.