Building a bridge to nationals

The engineering students will take their bridge to national competition in May.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University engineering students know how to build a bridge.
A team of YSU students demonstrated its skill and knowledge with a first-place finish in the recent steel bridge competition at the American Society of Civil Engineers 2007 Ohio Valley Regional Conference at Ohio State University.
YSU also placed first in the AutoCad computer drafting event and second in the water treatment design and technical paper competitions.
Thirteen universities competed, including Carnegie Mellon, University of Cincinnati, Ohio State, University of Pittsburgh, University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky.
The YSU winning structure is a bridge 18 feet 4 inches long by 36 inches wide by 29.5 inches high designed, fabricated and constructed by students. At the conference, students race to construct the prefabricated bridge, which was then load-tested with 2,500 pounds. Each bridge is judged on aesthetics, construction speed, lightness and deflection.
By placing first, the YSU team advances to the national competition May 25-26 at California State University-Northridge.
Members of the YSU steel bridge team are Kevin Lynch of Shelby, Ohio, Mike Lyda of North Lima, Bill Pitoscia of Hubbard, Bryan Kopachy of Youngstown, Mike Grumley of Girard and Nick Sanford of Conneaut.
The conference consisted of seven events: concrete canoe, steel bridge, water treatment design, land surveying, AutoCAD computer drafting, concrete Frisbee and a technical paper presentation on "Eminent Domain and the Engineer's Ethical Responsibilities." The YSU Student Chapter of ASCE participated in all of the events.
YSU also took first place in the AutoCad computer drafting event, which consisted of drafting a given drawing while being judged on speed and accuracy. YSU's participant in the event was Paul Rauschenberg of Austintown.
The water treatment design competition consisted of designing, constructing and operating a small-scale flow-through drinking water treatment apparatus. YSU's team, which finished in second place, includes Timothy Sturges of Brookfield, Tyler Mercer of Hookstown, Pa., Mark Delisio of Boardman, Mike Meder of Freedom, Pa., and Bill Bakos of Austintown.
The technical paper competition consisted of submitting a paper and giving an oral presentation. YSU student Bryan Kopachy of Youngstown took second place in the event.
Other competitions
YSU finished third in the concrete canoe competition, where students design and fabricate a canoe using lightweight concrete. Members of that team are Laura Bryer of Lowellville, Sara Wise of Bellville, Genevieve Jerome of McDonald, Bill Pitoscia of Hubbard, Dennis Flynn of Union, Pa., Tom Cunningham of Boardman, Mike Centorame of Canfield, Bill Bakos of Austintown and Bryan Pegues of Youngstown.
The land surveying competition consisted of performing several surveying tasks that were judged on accuracy and time. Members of the surveying team are Mark Delisio of Boardman, Tyler Mercer of Hookstown, Pa., and Paul Rauschenberg of Austintown.