Six of Geneva’s senior engineering students will soon head to the Ohio Valley Regional Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers– primarily to build a steel bridge.
  

The conference, scheduled for March 29-31, is a student-led aspect of the American Society of Civil Engineers, in which engineering students from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky will compete for both trophies and an opportunity to proceed on to the national conference. The conference consists of several competitions in the areas of civil engineering – Steel Bridge, Concrete Canoe, Concrete Frisbee, Surveying, Wastewater Treatment and Technical Paper. 

Senior engineering students Jacob Alianello, Laura Meyers, Caleb Henning, Dean Poleti and Brad Roman are all participating in the steel bridge competition as part of their senior design project. Brandon Fombelle, senior engineering student, is also participating in the Technical Paper competition with his paper on the ethics of eminent domain.  

Dr. Robe Liljestrand, engineering faculty member and advisor to the Geneva chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said the group will have to build a bridge that spans 20 feet during the competition, while adhering to time, weight and durability guidelines.
 

The group will be judged in these individual categories, as well as the overall design. Groups that win in individual categories will be awarded trophies, and the overall winner will have an opportunity to advance to the national competition. 

Geneva’s team has set a goal for itself to win the category of fastest team.
 

“They liked the idea of being faster, and I'm betting that they'll do pretty well,” Liljestrand said.