Students Go Head to Head in Annual Spaghetti Bridge Competition

The 32^nd annual Spaghetti Bridge Competition took place at Okanagan College as aspiring engineers put their designs to the test.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com

This year’s competition included 17 heavyweight entries as students from all over competed for bragging rights at the annual event. Students from secondary and post-secondary schools entered the contest where cash prizes were given for the lightest bridge that supports a predetermined weight. All the bridges were built entirely from pasta noodles and only glue was used to attach the pieces together.

All supplies and the rules are supplied on the day of the competition, and teams have two hours to complete the task. Cash prizes will be awarded for the most successful teams. There were several competitions for student to enter including a team competition and the popular heavyweight competition.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com

The top five bridges made it to the final round in the heavyweight competition and to be eligible for a prize, the structure must support at least 10 kilograms. Students from all over the valley gathered at the Kelowna Campus for the day’s events.

Complete Results:

Heavyweight
First – Adrian Schartner, Grade 7, home-schooled, Lumby
Bridge weighed: 982.6 grams
Bridge held: 275.6 kg

Second – Brendan Mattenley, Grade 10 Charles Bloom Secondary, Lumby
Bridge weighed: 989.7 g
Bridge held: 196.7 kg

Third – James Dessert, Grade 9 Charles bloom Secondary, Lumby
Bridge weighed: 909.9 g
Bridge held: 171.8 kg

Team Building, Post-Secondary

First – Anna Offenwanger, Marissa White, Ephraim Nowak, UBC Okanagan
Second – Kyler Lucas, Rhett Munson, Curtis Hull, Taylor Milsom, Okanagan College
Third – Julie Humphries, Robert Kemmler, Derek Penson, Siyuan Liu, Okanagan College

Team Building, Secondary

First –Alizon Littleton, Micah McKerlich, Katelyn Zylyk, Braeden Brown, Grade 7, Okanagan Mission Secondary, Kelowna
Second –Joy Savanagouder, Matthew Sharratt, Grade 9, Kings Christian School, Salmon Arm Third– Jacob Legg, Dayton Wykes, Nathan Karlsson, Grade 9, Glenrosa Middle School, West Kelowna

Individual Secondary
First – Liam Davis, Grade 8, Charles Bloom Secondary, Lumby (with team members: Dean Corce, Eddie Harvey)
Second– Ryan Baril, Grade 8, Charles Bloom Secondary, Lumby
Third – Esther Drysdale, Grade 8, Charles Bloom Secondary, Lumby