Students will compete to build the best steel bridge that must withstand more than 2,500 pounds and stretch more than 20 feet.

Students will take the skills they have learned from their classes at Quinnipiac and use them in a real world situation. 

“This experience ties directly into what we’re learning in structural analysis, mechanics of materials and CAD courses,” said Abigail Palmgren ’25, captain of Quinnipiac's team. “We apply concepts like force distribution, member sizing and connection design — except now we get to physically build and test those ideas in real time. It has also been wonderful to see the project come together over time and see everyone's ideas come to life.”

The students will not only learn how to apply their classroom skills to a real-world situation, they will also learn how to communicate efficiently with each other.  

“This competition benefits our students in that they truly learn how to apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real hands-on project,” said Priscilla Fonseca, associate professor of civil engineering and faculty adviser. “The students work in a team for the full academic year, and, because no one can do a project like this alone, they must learn to communicate different aspects of the process to each other.”

To showcase their knowledge and represent Quinnipiac in their debut at SSBC, these students have been working tirelessly for months to prepare for this moment.

“No matter the competition results, we’ve already built something to be proud of — and set the stage for future Quinnipiac engineering students,” said Palmgren. “We are hopeful for a successful competition and cannot wait to see where it takes us in the future.” 

The following students will represent Quinnipiac: co-captains Abigail Palmgren and Lauren Roeger, as well as Timothy Cooper, Andrew Jones, Michael Maiuzzo, Kevin Clarke, Anthony Votto, Kyle Townsend and Jayden Urena. 

In Focus