Johnson Controls Student Group Competition

              On Thursday March 30, 2006 a student group competition was held for all student chapters that wished to participate.  The competition was sponsored by Johnson Controls Inc., and was comprised of many different events including a quiz bowl, crossword, can stack, and a physical challenge.  These events were designed to highlight some of the specific challenges that face future Architectural Engineers.  The quiz bowl consisted of questions from the realm of pop culture and ofa variety of questions from the AE discipline.  The crossword puzzle also sought to test the students knowledge in the discipline of Architectural Engineering using terms that are commonly found in the field.  Perhaps the most exciting events were the can stack and the physical challenge.  During the can stack event, teams had to race to build the tallest and most structurally sound building possible, using only the food cans provided by the event coordinators.  The physical challenge was kept a secret from the participants, which forced them to use their problem solving skills in a quick and adept manner; literally having to think on their feet.  They were divided into teams of four and had to find a way for all four team members to flip over a plastic square on which they were standing without touching the floor.

              The overall winners of the event were a combined team of students from the Penn State AE Student Chapter and the Milwaukee School of Engineering AE Student Chapter.  Second and third place went to the University of Kansas AE Student Chapter and the Kansas State AE Student Chapter respectively.

A student volunteer setting up            

for the beginning of the can

stack competition 

                Samples of can stack structures

Winning Structure built by Penn State

and MSOE AE Student Chapters    

Students participate in the physical challenge