Sault, Algoma high school students win cash in truss building competition

Sault and area high school students displayed their design and building skills in the Sault College 2021 Truss Building Contest.

“I was very impressed by the turnout for our truss building competition. We had schools from Wawa, Sault Ste. Marie and Elliot Lake participate in this exciting event,” wrote Marc Pilon, Sault College Civil Engineering & Construction program professor/coordinator in an email.

“Typically we would receive around 20 bridges for the high school category in our annual Bridge Building Competition. For this Truss Building activity we received over 70 entries, so it was very exciting to see the students engaged.”

“Sault College strives for a hands-on learning environment for our students. Given many high school programs have been suspended due to COVID-19 (VEX Robotics, Science Fair, Bridge Building), we felt this was a perfect fit to engage high school students, especially the ones interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning.”

“I found the students very eager to participate. I presented virtually to some classrooms in preparation for the event giving a lesson on truss design theory and building tips. I got many questions from the students showing great critical thinking while designing and constructing their trusses,” Pilon wrote.

Contestants were placed in two categories (Grades 9/10 and Grades 11/12).

Cash prizes of $200, $100 and $50 were awarded to first, second and third place winners in each category.

The top three Grades 9 and 10 trusses, from 40 contestants, were made by: 

• Wesley Pomeroy, Korah Collegiate
• Cole Arruda, Korah Collegiate
• Taylor Long, Elliot Lake Secondary School

The top three Grades 11 and 12 trusses, from 32 contestants, were made by:

• Cooper Proulx, Elliot Lake Secondary School
• Tristan Harrington, Elliot Lake Secondary School
• Nathan Palmer, St. Mary's College

The event was first announced in February, students having registered by emailing their name, school, and grade to Pilon. Each registered student was given time to pick up truss building material (at a contactless pickup via drop box) at the Sault Ste. Marie Construction Association on White Oak Dr. E. during regular business hours Monday through Friday.

The deadline to submit completed trusses (at the Construction Association building) was Wednesday, March 17.

Registration was free, as were the balsa wood kits.

The event, intended to give students in Grades 9 to 12 a chance to get away from their electronic devices and engage in hands-on learning, problem solving and design, was similar to the annual bridge building competition held at Sault College’s gymnasium every spring.

Each participating student designed, created and submitted a balsa wood truss and competed against their classmates for prizes and bragging rights. Student trusses were loaded and tested to determine the winner in a virtual live streamed event held Friday, March 19.

“This is a recruitment activity we like to run to hopefully make students aware of a career in the civil engineering/construction fields," Pilon wrote.