Building 134
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
phone 631 344-2345
fax 631 344-3368
www.bnl.gov

managed for the U.S. Department of Energy
by Brookhaven Science Associates, a company
founded by Stony Brook University and Battelle

Photo Caption

Number: 04-38
Released: April 7,  2004
Contact: Diane Greenberg, 631 344-2347 or Mona S. Rowe, 631 344-5056

Commack High School Student Wins Brookhaven Lab's
Model Bridge Contest

Upton, NY – Commack High School student Aaron Damato (third from left) won first place in Brookhaven National Laboratory's 2004 Model Bridge Contest. More than 300 students from 18 high schools throughout Suffolk County entered their model basswood bridges in the contest with the goal of making the lightest bridge that held the most weight. Damato's bridge weighed 14 grams and held 61.3 pounds, or 1,986.7 times its own weight.

Click image for 300-dpi, hi-res version.

Anthony Olivo, Westhampton Beach High School (fifth from left), won second place with a bridge that weighed 14.9 grams and held 60.7 pounds, or 1,848.5 times its own weight. Zach Taber, Patchogue Medford High School (sixth from left), made a 17.7-gram bridge that held 69.3 pounds and held 1,777.7 times its weight, winning him third place. Daryl Gleiche, Patchogue Medford High School (fourth from left), won the aesthetic prize for creating the most attractive bridge.

Joining the winners are: Martin Woodle, a retired Brookhaven Lab engineer who was a volunteer judge in the contest (far left); contest organizer Mel Morris, a member of the Laboratory's Office of Educational Programs (second from left); Andrew McNerney, Brookhaven's Assistant Laboratory Director for Facilities and Operations (second from right), and Ed Murphy, Brookhaven's Plant Engineering Manager.

All four winning students received a trophy and a gift certificate to Borders. The two top winners will be eligible to enter the 2004 International Bridge Building Contest, which will be held in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 24.

One of the ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.