Co-sponsors of an international student competition on cold-formed steel design declared three winners from the University of North Texas, Tongji University and the University of Waterloo.
The 2014 International Student Competition on Cold-Formed Steel Design promoted higher education in cold-formed steel structural design and encouraged students to use creative thinking skills to solve engineering problems. Co-sponsors of the 2014 competition included the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the University of North Texas, and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
The competition generated 42 entries from 8 universities in China, Thailand, Brazil, Canada and the U.S. All entries were judged by a panel of industry professionals and ranked according to the design’s efficiency and constructability, as well as the quality of the essay submitted with the entry. The winners were:
•First Place – Chris Willis, University of North Texas, U.S.
•Second Place – Zongya Xu, Tongji University, China.
•Third Place – Benjamin Dow, University of Waterloo, Canada.
Cheng Yu, Ph.D., University of North Texas and a competition organizer, said, “This year’s participants were asked to design an optimal cross-section shape for a 96” long cold-formed steel stud column which provides adequate compression strength and utilizes the least amount of material. We were pleased with the entries, which included more international participation than previous competitions.”
The top three winners receive monetary awards and award plaques and will have their designs exhibited at various industry conferences in 2015.
The winning designs, list of top 10 student winners, and additional information are posted here.
Published in the February 2015 Edition of American Recycler News