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Presentation
Spaghetti Bridges: Build, Load and Repeat
Proceedings of American Society for Engineering Education, Zone IV (Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, and Rocky Mountain) Conference
  • Jeffrey S. Burmeister, University of the Pacific
  • Kyle A. Watson, University of the Pacific
Document Type
Conference Presentation
Department
Bioengineering; Mechanical Engineering
Organization
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
Location
University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV
Conference Dates
March 25-27, 2010
Date of Presentation
3-25-2010
Disciplines
Abstract

The construction and subsequent loading of a bridge made out of spaghetti has proven to be an effective instructional tool in combining elements of materials science, mechanics (statics) and manufacturing. This paper reports the advantages of requiring the students to repeat their design layout with slightly different manufacturing criteria instead of just completing one design. The use of spaghetti bridges in introduction to engineering courses has been done before; however, only one bridge is typically done per student team. Requiring the students to design more than one bridge and loading each to failure has a greater impact on student learning by forcing the students to understand the consequences of the differences between their bridges. A description of the design project and the results from implementing the project in improving the impact on student learning and the appreciation of engineering are reported.

Citation Information
Jeffrey S. Burmeister and Kyle A. Watson. "Spaghetti Bridges: Build, Load and Repeat" Proceedings of American Society for Engineering Education, Zone IV (Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, and Rocky Mountain) Conference (2010)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jeffrey-burmeister/11/