The Peninsula College Advanced Manufacturing/Composites program is sending three student teams to the international SAMPE Student Bridge Competition being held in Long Beach, Calif, starting Wednesday, May 23.
More than 70 teams will enter from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and China, competing in eight classes of model bridges.
This Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering competition has students building 24-inch long carbon fiber model bridges, which must hold at least 9,000 pounds — then compete for the lightest bridge.
This contest is entering its 21st year.
Last year, the four person PC Pirates team — the only solely two year school — defeated teams from the University of Washington, UCLA, NYU, Western Washington University, University of Delaware, University of Maryland, Harbin Engineering University (China), Gonzaga University, Brigham Young University and Montana Tech.
This year, Peninsula College is fielding Team C2, Team Galloping Gertie and Team Scallywags. Advanced Composites students Trevor Breland (lead), Colin Kahler and Charles Posey make up Team C2. Team Galloping Gertie consists of Adam Jordan (lead), David Holmes and Andrea McMaster. Derek Adamich leads Team Scallywags, with Chris Gaylord, Cole Murcavitch, Nikki Bowery and Emerson Stipes.
Each PC team has a differing weight goal, with less bridge weight increasing the difficultly to reach the 9,000-pound minimum load. The Pirates built a test fixture last year like the one used in the competition, allowing teams to load test their first bridge to 12,500 pounds at 1,234 grams (2.7 pounds) total weight. Weights have gone from 1,000 grams down to 450 gram, as student build, break and re-design bridges.
The Composites Recycling Technology Center, co-located with the Advanced Manufacturing program, has donated carbon fiber materials, equipment use and performed engineering reviews to refine the student’s design. Norm Nelson, Senior Process Engineer, answered student’s questions, discussed engineering concepts and analyzed design changes using FEA software.
Peninsula College’s Advanced Manufacturing/Composites program graduates students with an AAS degree in Composites, CNC Machining, CAD, and related subjects.
The competition is always a popular event, with SRO crowds cheering on the winners, and clapping in sympathy when a student bridge fails.
For more information, contact James Russell at jrussell@pencol.edu.
