Dominican Engineering Class Tackles Bridge Building

Using glue and Popsicle sticks, Kenny Lannes’ engineering class at St. Mary’s Dominican High School applied their knowledge of the basic physics (shear loads and bending moments) of bridges. Teams experimented with shapes to determine which ones were the strongest structurally, and collaborated on design and construction. The final test of their completed bridges was the weight-bearing test, starting with a 500-gram weight.

The engineering course covers the basic concepts and equations in several fields of engineering, including electrical, mechanical, and civil. “The goal is for the student to master basic mathematical derivations for engineering circuits and problems, and solve them to a high degree of confidence,” said Mr. Lannes. “This includes concepts of energy, power, force, voltage, current, and velocity.”