Home-Schooled Student Wins Brookhaven Lab's Model Bridge Contest
April 3, 2007
Upton, NY - Benjamin Coburn (center in photo below), a home-schooled student from Center Moriches, won first place in Brookhaven National Laboratory's 2007 Model Bridge Contest. Coburn won second place in the contest last year, and he also placed first in 2005. Over 150 students from 12 Suffolk County high schools entered their model basswood bridges in the contest with the goal of making the lightest bridge that held the most weight, up to 50 kilograms, or 110.2 pounds. No extra credit was given for bridges that held a load above that limit. Coburn's bridge weighed 12.4 grams and held 84.4 pounds, or 3,084.8 times its own weight.
James Dowd (second from right), from Islip High School, won second place with a bridge that weighed 17.6 grams and held 131.7 pounds, or 2,840.9 times its own weight. Third-place honors went to Christopher Durcan (third from left), from Patchogue-Medford High School, whose 17.7-gram bridge held 121.7 pounds, or 2,824.8 times its own weight. Jeffrey Petracca, (third from right) Walt Whitman High School, won the aesthetic prize for creating the most attractive bridge. Joining the winners (from left) are John Carter, Director of Community Affairs, Department of Energy Brookhaven Site Office; Andrew McNerney, Assistant Laboratory Director, Facilities & Operations; and (far right) Melvyn Morris, Educational Programs Coordinator, who organized the contest.
The top two winning students are eligible to enter the 2007 International Bridge Building Contest, which will be held in Chicago, Illinois, on April 28.
2007-10612 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
