Recently, the American Civil Engineering Steel Bridge Competition for College Students, hosted by the University of Memphis, was successfully held at the Memphis International Agricultural Exhibition Center. Southeast University was the first time to attend the event. The team was composed by 12 students from the School of Civil Engineering and the School of Mechanical Engineering, Lin Zhiyi, Hu Haolei, Hua Yiwei, Jiang Yu, Meng Chang, Zhang Lei, Zheng Yichuan, Chen Liwei, Li Baoshan, Wu Xiu, Yang Xiuhui and Tan Xiaoming and was led by three teachers of the School of Civil Engineering, He Zhiqi, Zhu Mingliang, and Xu Zhao. Due to careful preparation and high level of perform, the SEU team successfully completed the presentation, on-site consolidation, size inspection, weighing, lateral loading, vertical loading, deflection measurement and other parts. The team attracted attention and gained many praise from other U.S universities because of beautiful shapes , reasonable design and smooth cooperation. The team won the First Prize of Stiffness Single Award, the Second Prize of Efficiency and the Third Prize of Weight.

The competition problem was design and construction of steel bridge. After the multi-round selection, the school chose the senior students as the main force, who were responsible for the design, production and installation of the steel bridge model. The junior students assisted the competition and contacted with the students organization of ASCE. The team members trained for more than five months before the competition. They were prepared for program selection, design optimization, model analysis, picture drawing, processing and assembling. The school attached great importance to this competition, and the Dean’s Office and the preparation work had support from the faculty and students of the School of Civil Engineering. The team was also supported by Professor Z. John Ma of the University of Tennessee and Professor Roger Meier of the University of Memphis.

The American Civil Engineering Competition for College Students is a historic event founded by the American Society of Civil Engineering (ACSE). The competition is the highest level of civil engineering competition of the U.S. It has ten events, including Steel Bridge, Concrete Canoe, GeoWall, Professional Paper and so on. Chinese Universities like Tongji University, Zhejiang University, Southeast Jiaotong University and Hehai University have participated in this competition. The 2017 competition have 15 teams. From this competition, the team members of SEU have strengthened their profession skills through solving problems, and improved their comprehensive abilities. At the same time, it is a great opportunity for our students to show their talent in an international stage.