Building Bridges is Hard Work, Breaking Them is Fun!

Northrop Grumman, St. Mary’s Technology Corridor mainstay decided to have some fun in honor of National Engineers Week. On Wednesday, Feb. 18 the defense contracting giant held their Hollywood Bridge-Building Contest. At the hotly contest engineering event, multiple teams of engineers received a balsa wood bridge-building kit.

The engineering teams created a miniature bridge that could weigh no more than four ounces. Then after all the team entries were done, Northrop Grumman officials tested each one by attaching weights to the entries until they broke.

TBN was there to record the fun and amazing engineering feats that saw at least one of the miniature bridges hold over 200 pounds before breaking. To be sure there were more than a few “oohs” and “ahs” from the spectators and some interesting faces made by the engineers as they watched their entries stretch and bend under enormous weights.

At the event, six teams of students from Great Mills High School competed alongside teams of engineers from Northrop Grumman.

Engineers Week raises public understanding and appreciation of the contributions engineers make to society. Founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, it is among the oldest of America’s professional outreach efforts.

A national sponsor of the National Engineers Week Foundation, Northrop Grumman annually supports community engineering events across the corporation.

This local Bridge-Building competition was one of many events that Northrop Grumman held in recognition of Engineers Week. There were also similar competitions held Northrop Grumman sites in Bethpage, NY, Melbourne, FL, St. Augustine, FL and Hollywood, MD.

In this competition, the winning team of professional engineers from Northrop Grumman created a bridge able to hold 265.5 pounds before breaking into splinters.

The Great Mills High School students were members of the tenth grade STEM Program, as well as an AP Physics class. The winning student bridge was able to hold 62 pounds before breaking. Congratulations to winning team members Peter Klug, Mara Olenick, Wanda Ocada and Austin Samblanet led by teacher Allen Skinner.