Using Their Noodles
Kelly Vaden, Alexander Velasco and
Vicky Zhou watch their winning bridge snap with this year's
record 56 kilos. At left, Michael Karweit, who teaches
their introductory engineering course, applauds their
achievement.
PHOTO BY HIPS/JAY VANRENSSELAER
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By Phil Sneiderman Homewood
A team that included a visiting student from Tulane
University won first place honors in the
Whiting School of
Engineering's 12th annual Spaghetti Bridge Contest,
held recently in Homewood's Glass Pavilion.
The winning bridge, dubbed "Velasco's Fiasco," was
built by freshmen Alexander Velasco, Vicky Zhou and Kelly
Vaden. Velasco, who is from Maracaibo, Venezuela, enrolled
as a mechanical engineering major this fall at Tulane
University in New Orleans and was forced to evacuate when
Hurricane Katrina flooded the city. His grandmother, who
lives in Baltimore, encouraged him to continue his studies
at Johns Hopkins, which opened its classes to some
displaced students until their home schools reopen. Velasco
plans to return to Tulane for the spring term. His team's
bridge held 56 kilos of net weight (about 123 lbs.) before
it snapped.
Altogether, students in the introductory course called
What is Engineering? entered 14 bridges, made only of
spaghetti and glue. During the judging, increments of
weight were gradually added to a platform suspended from
the middle of each bridge until the structure snapped. Its
score was the greatest amount of weight the bridge carried
before the collapse. Students whose bridges could hold at
least 10 kilograms (about 22 lbs.) were excused from the
final exam, and 12 of the 14 bridges met the criterion this
year. The winning team received a $100 prize.
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2005
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