ACI Western shines at Big Beam Competition

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Western Engineering students and ACI Western members (from left to right) Amer Sabsabi, Emma Schnurr, Malcolm Ahsan and Jeremy Dodd.

The Western University Student Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI Western) made a strong showing at the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute’s (PCI) 2024 Engineering Design Competition, also known as the Big Beam competition. ACI Western ranked #1 in Canada in the competition and was the only international university to be among the Top 8.

The competition, in its 24rd year, teaches university students important structural engineering skills in an applied learning environment that will benefit them in their future professions. Teams of students and a faculty advisor design, build and test a 20-foot, precast, prestressed concrete beam.

Entries are judged on a variety of criteria, including the beam’s load-resisting performance in tests that simulate real-life conditions structural building and infrastructure components must endure to ensure life safety, as well as the quality of their analysis and reports, and a video overview of their project.

ACI Western, founded earlier this year, aims to expose engineering students to the concrete industry and promote careers in concrete-related professions.  

The team members include Jeremy Dodd, Malcolm Ahsan, Amer Sabsabi, Emma Schnurr, Francesca Devine, Timothy Kerkhoff and Abdelmoneim El Naggar and were supervised by Western Engineering professor Maged Youssef.

"I am extremely proud of our team of undergraduate and graduate students for their outstanding performance in the Big Beam Competition," says Youssef. "Their ability to apply structural engineering principles in designing, constructing, and testing precast concrete beams is a true testament to their hard work and the strength of our program." 

For Sabsabi, a PhD student in Youssef's research group, participating in the Big Beam Competition gave him the opportunity to oversee the construction of the beam.

"This hands-on experience provided me with invaluable insights into the practical implementation of our design, focusing on aspects such as constructability and fabrication constraints," says Sabsabi.

"And this experience has equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of prestressed concrete engineering and project execution, which I am eager to apply in my ongoing research and future endeavors."

Stubbe’s Precast was ACI Western's industry partner for this project and the students had the opportunity to tour the Stubbe's plant, getting to see structural engineering in action.

"I would like to sincerely thank Stubbe's Precast for their help this year in constructing the beams, which was instrumental to our success," says Youssef.

The team was also supported by Civil and Environmental Engineering laboratory manager, Aiham Adawi, as they were able to test the beam in Western Engineering’s Structures Laboratory.