2009 Winners Announced!

PCI Announces 2009 Engineering Design Awards (Big Beam Contest)
At their meeting at PCI on August 6, 2009, the Student Education Judging Committee selected the Engineering Student Design Award (Big Beam Contest) winners. First-place winners from each of the six PCI zones, along with the international entries considered as Zone 7, competed for the overall championship. The overall winners, zone winners, outstanding report winners, innovative design Winners, and the associated PCI and CPCI producers, are as follows:

OVERALL (NATIONAL) CHAMPIONSHIP

First Place:

Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore. (Zone 1))
Faculty Advisor: Keith Kaufman
Student Team: Jordan Bernhardt, Michael Craven, Tengfei Fu, Jake Goebel, Derek Manwill, and Ben Mealue
PCI Producer: Knife River Corp., Harrisburg, Ore. (Dusty Andrews)
Award: Award $2000 and other prizes

Second Place:

University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex. (Zone 2)
Faculty Advisor: Oguzhan Bayrak
Student Team: James Foreman, Jeff Gauthier, Ashley Heidenreich, Amy Heilig, Nancy Larson, Stephen Pool, and Nicholas Richman
PCI Producer: Coreslab Structures (TEXAS) Inc., Cedar Park, Tex. (Zachary Webb)
Award: $1750 and other prizes

Third Place:

Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa (Zone 3)
Faculty Advisor: Sri Sritharan
Student Team: Sriram R. Aaleti, Richard S. Henry, Aaron T. Shelman, and Zachary J. Thiemann
PCI Producer: IPC Precast Inc., Des Moines, Iowa (Jeff Butler)
Award: $1500 and other prizes

Fourth Place:

University of South Florida team 1, Tampa, Fla. (Zone 6)
Faculty Advisor: Rajan Sen
Student Team: James Barnes, Renee Garwood, William Lindecamp, Allen Overby, Jerome Panacci, Chak-Yin Szeto, and Matthew Trowbridge
PCI Producer: Standard Concrete Products Inc., Tampa, Fla. (John Robertson)
Award: $1250 and other prizes

Fifth Place:

University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada (Zone 7)
Faculty Advisor: Sreekanta Das
Student Team: Joel Bertie, Carlo D’Alessandro, Steven Gardonio, Brandon Hayes, and Jay Leavoy
PCI Producer: National Precast, Roseville, Mich. (Norm Presello)
Award: $1000 and other prizes

Sixth Place:

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va. (Zone 5)
Faculty Advisor: Benjamin Dymond
Student Team: William Collins, Bernie Kassner, Andy Hardyniec, and Matthew Swenty
PCI Producer: The Shockey Precast Group, Fredericksburg, Va. (Nicholas Comforter)
Award: $1000 and other prizes

Seventh Place:

Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis. (Zone 4)
Faculty Advisor: Baolin Wan
Student Team: Daniel Stadig
PCI Producer: The Spancrete Group, Waukesha, Wis. (Vern Coenen)
Award: $1000 and other prizes

ZONAL WINNERS

Zone 1 Second Place:

University of the Pacific, Stockton, Calif.
Faculty Advisor: Luke Lee and Hector Estrada
Student Team: Steven Carrick and Blanca Flores
PCI Producer: Con-Fab California Corp., Lathrop, Calif. (Chris McDermott)
Award: $750 and other prizes

Zone 2 Second Place:

University of Texas at Austin team 1, Austin, Tex.
Faculty Advisor: Oguzhan Bayrak
Student Team: Khanh Chau, Samuel Covey, Kristen Donnelly, Stephen Foster, Tapan Thakur, Arnaud Thibonnier, and Jason Varney
PCI Producer: Coreslab Structures (TEXAS) Inc., Cedar Park, Tex. (Zachary Webb)
Award: $750 and other prizes

Zone 2 Third Place:

University of Texas at Austin team 2, Austin, Tex.
Faculty Advisor: Oguzhan Bayrak
Student Team: Arcan Bundur, Anthony Bentivegna, Guillermo Huaco, Le Pham, Andres Stambuk, Rangsan Wongjeeraphat, and Ali Abu Yousef
PCI Producer: Coreslab Structures (TEXAS) Inc., Cedar Park, Tex. (Zachary Webb)
Award: $500 and other prizes

Zone 2 Fourth Place:

University of Oklahoma team 1, Norman, Okla.
Faculty Advisor: Thomas Kang
Student Team: Christopher Davis, Yu Huang, Randy Martin, Victor Njiru, and Shelby Pankop
PCI Producer: Coreslab Structures (OKLA) Inc., Oklahoma City, Okla. (Michael Daly)
Award: $250 and other prizes

Zone 3 Second Place:

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology team 2, Rapid City, S.Dak.
Faculty Advisor: M. R. Hansen
Student Team: Eric Brandner, Auston Harris, Cassandra Groen, Varunaraaja Palaniswamy, Michelle Redmond, Netaji Sanaboyina, and Brady Wiesner
PCI Producer: Gage Brothers Concrete Products Inc., Sioux Falls, S.Dak. (Chris Baer)
Award: $750 and other prizes

Zone 3 Third Place:

University of Nebraska– Lincoln team 3, Lincoln, Neb.
Faculty Advisor: George Morcous
Student Team: Matthew K. Rasmussen, Adam T. Schall, Scott J. Obermoller, Yaohua Deng, and Jon E. Ucman
PCI Producer: Concrete Industries Inc., Lincoln, Neb. (Rob Pearce)
Award: $500 and other prizes

Zone 3 Fourth Place:

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
Faculty Advisor: Cathy French
Student Team: Joanna Campbell, Rita Lederle, Elizabeth Manning, Sarah Noe, and Leah Olson
PCI Producer: Molin Concrete Products, Lino Lakes, Minn. (Paul Kourajian)
Award: $250 and other prizes

Zone 4 Second Place:

University of Notre Dame team 1, Notre Dame, Ind.
Faculty Advisor: Yahya (Gino) Kurama
Student Team: James Draths, Michael Maslowski, Erica Sanchez, and Michael Wodarcyk
PCI Producer: Stresscore Inc., South Bend, Ind. (John Reihl)
Award: $750 and other prizes

Zone 4 Third Place:

The Ohio State University team 7, Columbus, Ohio
Faculty Advisor: Halil Sezen
Student Team: Jeff Hunter, Jon Lenk, and Alan Yost
PCI Producer: High Concrete Group LLC, Springboro, Ohio (Richard Miller)
Award: $500 and other prizes

Zone 4 Fourth Place:

West Virginia team 2, Morgantown, W.Va.
Faculty Advisor: Roger Chen
Student Team: Adam Justice, Arkamitra Kar, Matt Anderson, and Soumya Sundar Chowdhury
PCI Producer: Sidley Precast, Youngwood, Pa. (Robert Narchus)
Award: $250 and other prizes

Zone 5 Second Place:

The Pennsylvania State University team 4, University Park, Pa.
Faculty Advisor: Maria Del Mar Lopez De Murphy
Student Team: Ben Gliha, Robert Guyer, Janelle Heminitz, and Robert Hill
PCI Producer: Newcrete Products, Roaring Spring, Pa. (Russell Dickson)
Award: $750 and other prizes

Zone 5 Third Place:

The Pennsylvania State University team 3, University Park, Pa.
Faculty Advisor: Maria Del Mar Lopez De Murphy
Student Team: Steven Donahue, Kristen Lechner, Nicole Lucas, and Anthony Vergara
PCI Producer: Newcrete Products, Roaring Spring, Pa. (Russell Dickson)
Award: $500 and other prizes

Zone 5 Fourth Place:

The Pennsylvania State University team 5, University Park, Pa.
Faculty Advisor: Maria Del Mar Lopez De Murphy
Student Team: Alireza Raisi, Matt Nebel, and Megan Kane
PCI Producer: Newcrete Products, Roaring Spring, Pa. (Russell Dickson)
Award: $250 and other prizes

Zone 6 Second Place:

University of North Florida team 2, Jacksonville, Fla.
Faculty Advisor: Adel El Safty
Student Team: Craig Jones, Richard Fisher, John Baker, Kyle Reader, Alex Lazowick, and Chris Price
PCI Producer: Gate Concrete Products, Jacksonville, Fla. (Glen Switzer)
Award: $750 and other prizes

Zone 6 Third Place:

University of Florida team 9, Gainsville, Fla.
Faculty Advisor: H. R. Hamilton
Student Team: Daniel Getter, William Dugary, Jared Easterlin, and Eric Kazmaier
PCI Producer: Dura-Stress Inc., Leesburg, Fla. (Charlie Baker/Audi Weerapun Sriboonlue)
Award: $500 and other prizes

Zone 6 Fourth Place:

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.
Faculty Advisor: John Ma
Student Team: Christopher Beres, Cody Roberts, Robert Harvell, and Kamal Chinary
PCI Producer: Mid-South Prestress LLC, Pleasant View, Tenn. (Thomas Gill)
Award: $250 and other prizes

Zone 7 Second Place:

Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Faculty Advisor: John Newhook
Student Team: Thomas McNutt and Adele Butcher
CPCI Producer: Strescon Ltd., Bedford, NS, Canada (Andrew Levatte)
Award: $750 and other prizes

Zone 7 Third Place:

University of Western Ontario team 1, London, ON, Canada
Faculty Advisor: Maged A. Youssef
Student Team: Salah El-Fitiany, C. Tyler Ing, Jeffrey Blaylock, Zheng Xu, and Abraham Rollins
CPCI Producer: The Prestressed Group, Windsor, ON, Canada (Phil Wiedemann)
Award: $500 and other prizes

Zone 7 Fourth Place:

Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre Y Maestra, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Faculty Advisor: Rodolfo Bonetti
Student Team: Rafael De Jesus Garcia Villanueva, Juan Tomas Santos Sang, Juan Manuel Silfa Cabrera, and Jose Ricardo Perez Martinez
Award: $250 and other prizes

OUTSTANDING REPORT WINNER

Best Report:

University of South Florida team 1, Tampa, Fla. (Zone 6)
Faculty Advisor: Rajan Sen
Student Team: James Barnes, Renee Garwood, William Lindecamp, Allen Overby, Jerome Panacci, Chak-Yin Szeto, and Matthew Trowbridge
PCI Producer: Standard Concrete Products Inc., Tampa, Fla. (John Robertson)
Award: $500 and other prizes

The Big Beam Contest is organized by PCI's Student Education Committee and sponsored by Sika Corp. The objective is for teams of students to fabricate and test a precast, prestressed concrete beam with the help of local precast concrete producer members. Prizes are awarded for the most efficient design, highest load capacity, best report, and other categories.

Applications for the 2010 Big Beam Contest are due at PCI by March 15, 2010, and test reports are due by June 14, 2010.

For additional information on this program, contact PCI’s education director, Alex Morales, at (312) 360-3219 or Contact Alex via Email