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Ranney Sophomore Earns First Place Award at Delaware Valley Science Fair

On March 16, 2013, Ranney’s Science Research Club competed in the 35th annual Jersey Shore Science Fair at Richard Stockton College in Galloway, NJ. Sophomore Amy Winkler (Manasquan) earned second place in Intermediate Engineering for her project focused on bridge failures. The award qualified Amy to move on to the Delaware Valley Science Fair sponsored by Drexel University at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oakes, PA, where she received a first-place plaque for her project from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), America’s oldest engineering society which represents more than 140,000 members worldwide. The prize included a $100 check and an invitation to present her project at the American Society of Civil Engineers 100th Anniversary Gala being held at The Franklin Institute on May 4, 2013.

The Delaware Valley Science Fair was founded in 1949, making it one of the oldest and largest fairs in the country. According to its website, the fairs were designed as a vehicle for stimulating interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) among students in middle and high schools in the tri-state area. At the fair, Amy competed against 1,000 middle and high school students with roughly 25 students in her category.

Amy’s project, which harmoniously demonstrated her firm grasp of the science, engineering, art and math needed to design and build a bridge, was a continuation of a science fair project that she started last year. Amy was inspired to do the project after hearing a news story involving the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a result, Amy focused on observing bridge failures that result from design flaws. Amy built model bridges and tested them under various conditions to see how the bridges held up.

“I wanted to find which truss could hold the most live load, and if different truss types were better for different lengths of bridges,” explained Amy. “The three variables I used were length, truss design and the amount of time that a certain weight is held. I compared the breaking points of each of the bridges, divided the weight of each bridge by the live load to find how many times its own weight the bridge held. I found that the Double Intersection Warren Truss held the most weight in total, while the Standard Warren held the most comparatively to its weight. This showed that the most complex bridges were not necessarily the strongest, and that different bridges are more suitable for different length bridges.”

Amy’s project was also displayed at the 2013 Ranney School Science Expo on April 9, alongside the work of her fellow Upper School peers. Overjoyed by the news of her upcoming presentation, she is excited to present her project to people who work in the field of civil engineering. Amy is also an active member in the Ranney School Robotics Club and is currently competing in the VEX World Robotics Competition in Anaheim, CA.
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