EAA’s 2012 Student Impact Project Final Awards Event was held on Saturday, April 28 at the PG&E Auditorium in San Francisco, marking its 12th straight Student Impact Project with exceptional participation by students, volunteer engineers, teachers and dedicated donors. Students were asked to select one of two bridge scenarios — A pedestrian walkway over San Francisco’s Embarcadero for visitors and viewers of the America’s Cup Sailing Races and a replacement bridge over the Kesen River in Rikuzentakata, Iwate, Japan that was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami — and develop a viable bridge solution. Twenty-seven finalists — culled from 60 total bridges — were presented and judged on a combination of viability, innovation, artistic appearance, construction and oral presentations.

In-School Program

Almost 300 students from nine classrooms in San Francisco and East Bay high schools participated in EAA’s 10-week, in-class program. Eleven Bay Area firms provided 40 volunteer structural engineers to volunteer for EAA in 2012.

Winning Teams

Every student on a winning team received a trophy. Best in Scenario winning team members also received cash awards. The awards and the program were made possible by the generous support of our sponsors. The students, teachers and volunteer engineers all appreciate the generosity of the following firms for their support:

2012 Judges

An eclectic panel of expert architects, artists and engineers provided a broad array of viewpoints this year:

Bill Blessing, Ratcliff Architects
David Brown, Van Meter Williams Pollack
Hulya Kayir, Degenkolb Engineers
Chris Killion, Aurora Theater Company
Dennis Mulligan, General Manager, Golden Gate Bridge District
Taryn Stubblefield, SEAONC Board of Directors, Simpson Gumpertz and Heger
Nicholas Sitar, Edward G. Cahill and John R. Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Stephen Thomas, The Oxbow School
Joel Villamil, Marx/Okubo Associates, Inc.
Jim Brovelli, Brovelli Architecture + Construction
Nick Bucci, Tipping Mar

2012 School Teams

A total of 51 teams from eight high school classes in San Francisco and the East Bay participated in this year’s SIP.  Each school held its own semi-final event to select the top three bridges in each class — 24 finalists — to participate in today’s final awards event.

Congratulations to the 220 students who completed EAA’s 10-week enrichment program.

SCHOOLS

Abraham Lincoln High School – San Francisco

Teacher: Karen Melander
Student Teams:
Fans of Life: Corinne Tam, Chris Cheung, Nick Suen, Wilmer Estrada
Golden Wave: Zi(Colin) Zhen, Shijie (Jack) Zhen, Jeffrey Wu, Wesley Xu
Wave of Harmony: Ivan Ly, Chen Yu, Ryan Tom, Derrick Tran, Roy Tam
Golden Horizon: Joey Li, Tatiana Pimentel, Kathy Ye, Geoffrey Simpson
Great Bridge of Japan: Gordon Ng, Sam Cheng, Kenneth Wong, Kenny Kuang
The Diamond Boat: Hieu O, Jerry Wong, Andy Liang, Stuart Lee
Fenikkusu (Phoenix): Elton Wu, Shannon Do, Samantha Lee, Elizabeth Law
Walking on Sunshine: Jonny Nguyen, Jason Huang, Isabel Gonzalez, Marikris Morales
Quicksilver: Quinnton Barringer, Kenji Mah, Kevin San, Dana Yong
Yolo: Pearl Lee, Brandon Chui, Sherman Zhu, Joseph Tan
Moonlight: Samantha Tan, Jenny Peng, Angela Ling
Wingspan: Daniel Fielding, Nick Au Yeung, Kevin Wong, Sotia Campos
Set Sail: Jason Ching, Jason Fong, Alex Louie, Austin Dang
Koiban: Stephanie Chu, Tiffany Chen, Nelson Chan, Bejamin Au
Pier Bridge: Kiran Gurang, Cameron Sansano, Mmezi Nwogu
Piece of San Francisco: Jennifer Lam, Dominique Dejarnatt, Justin Zhu
Seiryoku: Jennifer Chan, Kenny Tran, Iris Billedo
Sakura: Nicholas Schindler, Ken Gu, John Lau, Howard Lu
Embarcadero’s Arch: Alan Chiang, Raymond Quan, Lily Billedo, Robert Chan
Embarcadero Wave: Stanlee Quach, Brian Wong, Ryan Kuang, Kevin Lee
Embarcadero: Jeffrey Chan, Sterling Weickum, Maria Ramos
Welcome: Michael Chen

Alameda Community Learning Center

Teacher: Carlton Grizzle
Student Teams:
Niebla Bridge: Josh Dickey, Maria Mandanas, Patrick Melendez, Jessica Wu
Yukisora: Aidan Chin, Sophia Starling Shirley, Jenny Tran
Fog City Bridge: Angla Kim, Jordan Levy, Aaron Hom
SEEM: Sarah Sirota, Erin McBride, Emelle Lafferty, Mare Ng
Kibou Bridge: Evelyn Jo, Brendan Champlin, Garriel Carrethers

Balboa High School – San Francisco

Teacher: Jeff Larson
Student Teams:
The Pine Bridge: Wyatt Anderson, Aaron Lam, Gabriel Davis, Jocelyn Rodriguez, Kyle Szeto
The Arch Cup Bridge: Jonathen Chen, Kris Berja, William Wu, Alexis Romero, Khaner Smith
The Nautical Arch: Derick Clemente, Christina Sataraka, Matt Pascabelo, Mizzi Govea, Robin Licu, AJ Wilson
The Rising Sun: Kun Hua Huang, Lorenzo Oliver, Thinh Phung, Helen Chen, Juan Lopez
Silver Gate: Emily Belenky, Linda Fung, Wei Cheng Huang, Sergio Castaneda, Becky Hong, Victoria Blanco
Orchid Truss: Dale Herr, Kelvin Wong, Karla Padilla, Jeffrey Esqueda, Joseph Chavez-West
The Golden State: Jimmy Wu, Dushonn Turner, Nidia Prudencia, Sammie Yee, Kevin Zhang, Edwin Bolanos

El Cerrito High School – El Cerrito

Teacher: Linda O’Connor
Student Teams:
The Wave: Kevin Smith, Adriana Valdez, Marcus Wansick, Henry Hodson, Jennifer Welden
The People: Emily Specter, Vanessa Vazquez, Mengel Comandao, Connie Saechao
Del Mar: Stephen Belisario, Taylor Doty, Stephanie Lipscomb, Pedro Cisneros
Pointe Vecchio: Aidan Brorsen, Rachel Birnam, Gabe Lehman, Rachel Graup, Hannah Banks
En Paz: Amy Lim, Kayana Correa, Cameron Mitchell, Josephine Zhou, Alexis Ly-To
The Sailor’s Bridge: Samantha Burnell, Brian Seegers, Morgan Pilcher, Assya Reshetikhin, Laurel Weaver
Aratana Hajimari: James Hodgson, Jennifer Xu, Johnny McDermott, Daystiny Faulkner

Immaculate Conception Academy

Teacher: Gigi Torres
Student Teams:
Pont Pierre: Shane Agao, Estefania Lopez, Rachel Tegenkamp
America’s Cup Bridge: Veronica Trigueros, Clarissa Liwanag, Karla Bermudez
Renaissance Hope: Diana Guardado, Jocelyn Herrera, Josefina Roque
San Francisco Wings: Alyrian Applin, Celina Baldizon, Kennwynne Ferretti
Utsukushii (Beautiful): Paola Lopez, Martha Cuevas, Melissa VallecilloI

Nea Community Learning Center

Teacher: Jason Huntoon
Student Teams:
Pyragold: Gordon Tan, Debbie Luong, Valerie Um, Callie Royster
Bridge of Champions: Jeremae Ebalang, Megan Fernandez, Alisa Shu Ying Huang, Jason Tse-Hsiang Li
Recovering Bridge: John Love, Srey Pheng, Victor Liang

Oakland School for the Arts

Teacher: Ben Nathan
Student Teams:
Star Pine: Sionne Tollefsrud, Kyana Fanene, Jasmine Stade, Emma Stumpf
Golden State: Dana Gold, Mark Ibanez, Imara McMillan, Sabrina Chacko, Bella Johannessen
Saisei (Rebirth): Chloe Ashley, Maria Tymous, Rosalie Bioar, Ariana Filice
The Catamaran Bridge: Zoe Yi, Haley Slamon, Alegra Figeroid, Marcello Wilkinson, Ingemar Anderson
Give-Way Crossing: Nisa Goldberg, Christina Payne, Dominique Battiste, Maya Godfrey, Kionna Costello