By: Rajanah Tracy H. Sarmiento
Bridge Building Competitionis an annual fun Engineering competition and is one of the highlights of PILI-pinas, a 2-week long inter-departmental celebration of Philippine Culture. This year’ s competition was hosted by Christian D. Abanag and organized by Aspirants and Achievers Association(AAA) and was held at the FEU Tech Student Plaza, on September 9, 2015.
This year’s competition included popsiclebombing. To make a popsicle bomb, participants must make a reticulated grid by weaving together popsicle sticks wherein each stick is held in place by bending. This bending creates tension, and, if done correctly, the weave of sticks fly apart when one is removed.
The participants of the competition were asked to build weaves long enough to connect four stations, each station representing a Philippine province.
To increase the difficulty of the task, participants were initially given only enough materials to connect two stations and were told that, to receive more, they would have to answer a series of very difficult riddles. When their popsicle bomb bridges were completed, the groups had to ignite them, causing a flurry of laughter and squeals.
The winners of this year’s competition were AustinSy, Ace Ventura, Oliver Leonida, and JannsenCaranzo.