Tall Towers Challenge Tackled by Engineering Students
After researching buildings such as the CN Tower in Toronto and the Empire State Building in New York City, Patrizia Davis' Engineering Honors students were placed in groups of two and were challenged to build the tallest structure. They used 50 pipe cleaners, 50 straws, and 25 paper clips with no other tools permitted. Each tower needed to support a golf ball for two minutes without deforming more than 20 percent.
"In the last 100 years, building construction has undergone challenges in many areas," said Mrs. Davis. "None more so than the upward expansion of building heights." She noted that the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, was constructed in 2009 and now rises at a staggering 828 meters. She added that the tallest wooden structure in the world at 181 meters - the Gliwice Radio Tower or the Silesian Eiffel Tower - is in Poland and was built in 1935.
To complete the Tall Tower Challenge, students utilized their knowledge of architectural, structural, and environmental engineering.
"I decided to take Engineering Honors because I knew this is what I possibly wanted to major in when I go to college," said Renee Vozza '23. "This class has helped me explore the different types of engineering to see which one I am drawn to most. Specifically, the Tall Towers Challenge taught me the challenge of a time constraint in engineering. We had one class period to finish building and it was a lot of pressure to make sure that our tower was both tall and stable. My partner and I were nervous that our tower was not going to be stable enough to hold the golf ball, but ultimately in the end it worked out."
Kathleen Altobelli '24 explained, "When doing this project, we only had a limited amount of time to design and create our towers. We learned how engineers sometimes have a limited amount of time to design and create something, in this case a building. It also taught that are initial design may not work out and that we either have to add more or remove for it to work. I loved this project and it was very educational."
"The Tall Tower project allowed us to expand our knowledge on the engineering and design process while working collaboratively with our peers in teams," shared Addie Hoeft '24.
Reese Hannon '24 added, "The Tall Tower Challenge started unstable, but through teamwork and quick thinking, we were able to build our tower tall and watch it successfully hold the golf ball."
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