GCU students place third at Scotland-wide IStructE engineering challenge

A team of GCU students came third at an engineering based competition, which challenged students to build and develop a bridge model.

The Student Model Competition 2024 is organised by the Institution of Structural Engineers, with the aim to inspire the next generation of engineers through a showcase of their knowledge and skills.

Students were tasked with creating a bridge model, which were based on specific requirements during the challenge at the University of Edinburgh.

Students Yuchen Wu, Zhicheng Zhu and Yian Wang were selected to represent Glasgow Caledonian University, after hearing about the opportunity from Professor Ben Zhang.

“During the module Advanced Structural Engineering, Professor Zhang introduced us to the IStructE competition, a Scotland-wide structural competition, so we had the opportunity to sign up.” Explained Yuchen.

Zhicheng added: “Professor Zhang told us that it was a Scotland-wide competition and that the school had the opportunity to send students to the competition, so myself and two other students volunteered to take part in the competition.”

Yuchen said: “The competition was to build a bridge using materials up to a specified limit. The final ranking was based on lightness and the ability to be tested by a trolley in three different situations. It is worth noting that the bridge has two piers, one in a simulated river and one in the sand, and the bridge needs to withstand the impact of the current.”

The competition invited students from different Scottish universities to work on the challenge, allowing students to network and work alongside colleagues from similar fields.

“In the early stages of the competition, given that we were international exchange students and there was no shortage of seemingly experienced competitors on the course, our initial goal was not to try to place, but rather to prioritise the stability of the bridge in order to pass the final test.” Explained Yuchen.

“Therefore, instead of designing some novel structures, we made the bridge more stable by using a lot of triangular structures. Since one of the piers is in the river, we paid more attention to the torsional capacity of the bridge to ensure its stability. In the competition, two of my teammates and I divided the work in order to control our production time within the range. In the end, we were pleasantly surprised and happy to have achieved the third place.”

As a student, it was a great experience to participate in such a competition. It can exercise our concentration, communication and co-operation skills, and also consolidate our knowledge in practice.”

Zhicheng added: “In the competition, my two teammates and I co-operated with each other, from the beginning of the structural design to the final completion of the project, and finally through our efforts to obtain the second place. First of all, we are very happy to get such a result, but I think that if we make the bridge lighter and the piers thinner, we may be able to compete for the first place.”

The experience proved to be beneficial for the team, who now appreciate the benefits taking part in extra-curricular activities.

Zhicheng said: “I think as a student, participating in this competition can help us to learn more about structures and try to apply what we have learnt about structures to real-life structural design, as well as develop our hands-on skills.”

Find out more about the Institution of Structural Engineers on their website

By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media