Using popsicle sticks or tongue depressors, first-year students of Oceanic Civil Engineering, Industrial Civil Engineering and the UV Common Engineering Plan participated in the Hydraulic Challenge, where they had to build drawbridges capable of supporting up to nine kilograms.
The order was that the bridge had to measure 50 centimeters long, with a hydraulic system based on syringes, which would allow it to be raised, leaving a separation between its ends of at least twelve centimeters and respecting the supports in a non-raised condition of 50 centimeters. By supporting nine or more kilograms, students obtained a 7.0 grade.
Mauricio Reyes, academic in Oceanic Civil Engineering, says that the objective of the activity “is to develop social skills, teamwork, conflict resolution, planning and role assignment in students. We are interested in promoting the basic concepts of engineering in terms of understanding the behavior of materials at an empirical level.”
“As a complement, in Physics they study vectors. By explaining the transmission of forces, students can understand these concepts, but also see the application of what they see in other courses,” he adds, and comments that “a lot of diversity is appreciated in terms of the knowledge they bring from high school.”
“This type of work allows them to integrate this knowledge and facilitate their learning, with the development of social skills and the formation of study groups, because it is also an intuitive approach to the discipline,” he indicates.
The organizers of the activity explain that the bridge loads, consisting of non-perishable food, will be donated to a charity once the challenge is over.
Note: Rodrigo Catalán / Photos: Matías Salazar
