The third High School Wooden Bridge Competition organised by the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at Qatar University’s (QU’s) College of Engineering (CENG) ended with a closing award ceremony, with Abdullah bin Ali Al Misnad Secondary Independent Schools for Boys being named the winner.
The competition, which was sponsored by Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) and Dolphin Energy, saw the second place being awarded to Doha Secondary Independent Schools for Boys and third place to Al Shahaniya Preparatory and Secondary Independent Schools for Boys.
The fourth and fifth places were awarded to Philippines International School and Business Administration and Banking Secondary Independent School for Boys, respectively.
Thirty schools and more than 100 students participated in the competition, which started last November. It is one of several high school outreach programmes conducted by CENG to motivate students to join the field of engineering in general and civil engineering in
particular.
It involves teams using sticks and glue to construct model bridges. Selected teams were visited by the department’s senior students, teaching assistants and faculty, who provided guidance and advice on their designs. They also paid a visit to the department
for follow-up assistance.
The ceremony was attended by CENG associate dean for academic affairs Prof Adel Gastli, department head Dr Ramzi Taha, QP energy & industry sector strategic Qatarisation plan steering committee chairman Abu Bakr al-Saiari and Qapco academic affairs head Abdulrahman Sultan al-Darwish.
Dr Taha said, “The creative styles of bridges this year highlighted the enthusiasm the students and teachers had for the competition, which is growing in popularity. We look forward to engaging even more schools and students in our ongoing commitment to attract young students and highlight the importance of engineering in our everyday lives and to the progress and
development of society.”
CENG dean Dr Rashid al-Ammari said, “As a result of CENG’s many outreach initiatives such as the Wooden Bridge Competition, we have had an increase in student numbers in the last few years, which will serve to meet market demand for more skilled engineers. High school outreach is a key component of the college’s vision and strategic plan. It is important for us to be part of the national process of building a cadre of qualified engineers to contribute their knowledge and experience to the country’s progress.”
