School of Engineering to host bridge building and robotics competitions
February 7, 2011
CHARLESTON, SC – February 6, 2011 – The Citadel School ofEngineering will celebrate National Engineers’ Week with the 12th Annual Engineering Fair for middle and high school students on Saturday, Feb. 6 in Buyer Auditorium, Mark Clark Hall. The fair will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude at noon. The event is free and open to the public.
The Engineering Fair is designed to expose Lowcountry middle and high school students to fundamental math and science principles forunderstanding engineering issues and methods. Highlights of the annualevent include the bridge building and the robotics competitions.
The craft stick bridge competition tests bridges for strength toweight ratio. Bridges constructed of craft sticks and wood glue will beloaded at mid‐span until they collapse. The maximum load divided by thebridge weight will determine students’ scores. Awards will be presentedfor maximum strength to weight ratio, maximum load and lightest bridgeto hold minimum load of 2500 grams. Awards are also given for mostoriginal design, most constructible and best craftsmanship.
In the robotics competitions, students pit their team‐built Legorobots against each other in one of two head‐to‐head competitions. Thefirst competition is a baseball game where the robots must be able toboth run around bases and be able to search for a ball hit into theoutfield. In the second competition, robots must push cups into a holewhile trying to prevent their opponent from capturing their cups. Forboth competitions, the robots must think and make decisions completelyon their own.
The fair also will feature interactive displays of inventionsdesigned and built by Citadel electrical engineering senior designteams. Inventions include several autonomous robots, a multi‐touchinterface for driving a car, a smart non‐lethal riot control gun, and acollision avoidance system for trains.
Following the fair, the “Storm the Citadel” trebuchet competition,sponsored by Google, will be held on Summerall field. This competitionwill challenge teams to design and build a trebuchet withinspecifications to accurately hit a target. There will be competitionsfor High School, College and Corporate levels. National Engineers’ Week, or EWeek, is held every year during the week of George Washington’sbirthday. It is co‐sponsored with the Charleston Engineers JointCouncil. For more information on EWeek, go to www.citadel.edu/eweek.
“Engineering Week is an exciting time for us,” said Dennis Fallon,dean of the School of Engineering. “It’s an excellent opportunity for us to showcase the work of our cadets as well as introduce the field ofengineering to middle and high school students.”
