The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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CSUN students win at regional competition

The Civil Engineering Department at CSUN took first place overall out of 18 schools that competed for the prestigious steel bridge category at the Pacific Southwest Regional Conference.

The PSWRC features universities that participate and compete in various events, including the steel bridge, concrete canoe, seismic structure, impromptu design and surveying. A different university hosts the competition every year, and for 2007, University of California, San Diego was awarded the honor.

Student representatives from CSUN’s civil engineering club and the American Society of Civil Engineering highlighted their presence at the competition with a handful of awards.

They also came in second place for the seismic event. A large wooden structure is placed on a “shake table” in order to simulate an earthquake. Members also won second place in the water resources competition in which contaminated water is purified using a homemade filter.

The steel bridge takes approximately a year to design and construct. Scoring factors included weight, aesthetics, construction speed, economy and rigidity. The top three teams compete in a national competition, which is slated to be held at CSUN toward the end of May.

ASCE president Nallely Olguin informs her members of upcoming events and motivates those in the club.

“We’re all excited to compete against other schools in the upcoming national student steel bridge competition here at CSUN,” Olguin said. “We have a good chance at winning.”

Captain of the minor events Idez Castro said, “Being a civil engineer, I decided to join ASCE. I wanted to be part of the team to meet other civil engineering students and gain experience in that field. The ASCE team is very united and it is very exciting to be part of a team that works together.”

Student member Carlos Chaidez also looks forward to competing in the national competition.

“This year our school did very well, winning several awards,” Chaidez said. “We will be a proud host. I just feel like I really want everyone to know how well CSUN is in these events. I hope people interested try to support us by coming down to the events.”

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