Build ‘Em & Bust ‘Em bridge competition teaches Central NY students engineering basics

November 6, is the last day teams can sign up for the 17th annual Central New York Bridges Build ‘Em & Bust ‘Em Competition, which takes place November 12 at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology (MOST), syracuse.com reports. The goal of the competition is to teach students engineering basics, with the hope that some will consider a career in engineering.

Teams will consist of two or three students, which will be separated into the following three categories:

• Category I, for students in grades four through six;
• Category II, for students in grades seven and eight; and
• Category III, for students in grades nine through 12.

Teams will build balsa wood truss bridges, which are composed of triangle units that connect the bridge top to the base and can hold many times their weight. The teams will then bring their completed bridges to the museum for testing where each bridge will have increasing pressure placed on it until it breaks. The lightest bridge that can hold the heaviest load, or the most efficient bridge will be the winner. Some bridges in the past have stood up to more than 154 pounds of pressure.

The event is organized by the museum and sponsored by Lockheed Martin, Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Technology Alliance of Central New York, C&S Companies, the Syracuse Sections of the American Society of Civil Engineers, NASA NYS Space Grant, and SWBR Architects.

For more information, or to register a team for the event, go to www.most.org.