TRIUMPH AT 16TH ANNUAL CANSTRUCTION COMPETITION
Old Dominion University (ODU) was well-represented at the 16th annual Norfolk CanStruction competition, held in the Selden Arcade in Downtown Norfolk. Three teams, comprised of five different student organizations and twenty students, each entered designs and competed against fellow schools and engineering and design firms from around Hampton Roads. Tackling competition's annual theme of combatting hunger, the teams worked together to design viable structures from the nearly $14,000 worth of canned goods donated to the teams by Farm Fresh.
The first structure, called "SWEET 16: Driving Hunger Away," was designed and built by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) chapter in honor of the competition's 16 years in existence. The construction, including blinking head- and tail-lights, and representing a car, alluded to the ultimate tradition when turning 16, a teenager's first car.
Another structure called "Monarchs Ruling Out Hunger" showed the ODU students' excitement over both the contest and its purpose as well as their excitement about their college's 50th anniversary year, which is being celebrated in 2012-2013. This team comprised members from National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and SWE.
Honorable Mention was awarded to the final ODU entry, entitled "The Final Frontier." This structure brought members from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and SWE together in constructing the space shuttle themed composition. According to team members, the structure represented the forward "launch into the future determined to blast hunger to the far reaches of the galaxy."
CanStruction is an international charity competition where architects, engineers, contractors and students they mentor, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food. The structures built by the teams were open to the public for the week following the competition. At the close of the competition all of the food is donated to local food banks where the competitions are held.