Schedule to come.

Students interested in competing in the Balsa Bridge Middle School Competition should:

• Find a teacher or counselor to act as a mentor for the duration of the project.
• Gather a team of up to 6 students.
• Write a paragraph explaining your interest in the competition.

Mentors interested in bringing a team(s) to competition should:

• Gather a team of up to 6 students.
• Consult with school officials to discuss the possibility of getting school credit.
• Determine and original team name.
• Complete the online application for the team.
• Write a paragraph explaining your team’s interest in the competition.
• Obtain parental permission as needed.

Balsa Bridge Online Application

Objective: Design, Build, and Load-Test a 36-inch Scaled Bridge using Balsa and Wood Glue.

Approach: Teams made up of up to 6 students will design, construct, and test a 36-inch long bridge using only balsa and glue provided by the College of Engineering. As a minimum, the bridge must support the first truck loading of 15 pounds to pass over the full length of the bridge.

For a successful project, teams should divide the responsibilities between team members. As a suggestion, each team should have:

1. Team Name
2. Project Manager: keeps all team members on track, coordinates all team discussions during design phase and construction phase, delegates responsibilities and gives a helping hand as needed, ensures the project is progressing on schedule, leads the writing of the report(s), etc.
3. Design Engineer: Interprets the rules, leads the team while selecting alternative designs using the computer software, helps the team select the best design alternative, manages the drawing of the layout of bridge design, helps in construction, etc.
4. Construction Engineer: leads the construction efforts, communicates with designer and project manager to select best feasible design, build various bridge components as suggested by the selected layout/design, etc.
5. Other Engineers: all team members should actively be involved in the interpretation of the rules, the design using the computer software, design selection process, the writing of the report(s), and the construction.

On the bridge testing day, before the bridge testing is performed, all team members are required to give a short introduction summarizing their role in this project and their experience.

Get the Complete Rules

Balsa Bridge Design Fundamentals

Learn more about designing and building your Balsa Bridge. Get started with Design Guidelines here. Watch the video for more information.

Student Awards

First Place

Each student on the winning team receives:

• $500 UM System Scholarship (useable at UMKC, S&T, UMSL, Columbia)
• Mizzou Engineering Summer Camp Scholarship
• Trophy
• Engineering apparel

Second Place

Each student on the second-place team receives:

• Mizzou Engineering Summer Camp Scholarship
• Trophy
• Engineering apparel

Third Place

 Each student on the third-place team receives:

• Trophy
• Engineering apparel

Mentor Awards

First Place:

• $300 classroom stipend

Second Place:

• $200 classroom stipend

Third Place:

• $100 classroom stipend