Prize winning entry by Old Dominion Team.
George J. Christ
Old Dominion University
Class '03
Wow! What a great time I had at the convention. Las Vegas really is the city that never sleeps. There is too much to do in that city to sleep. Then add the CSI convention to it and you will surely not sleep.
This was my first time attending a CSI convention. It was a rewarding experience, and not just because our team won the design build competition, but because I learned a lot about CSI and had an opportunity to meet a lot of other CSI members.
Winning the design build competition was the highlight of my trip to the convention. It felt great to get some recognition for our school and for our individual team members. We also had a good time competing. I was amazed at the varying designs. Twenty-two teams competed and no two designs were alike. The creativity and the teamwork that went on in the competition room were unbelievable.
Prize winning entry by Old Dominion Team.
I will have to admit that I was a little bit concerned when we had two hours left and we hadn’t started putting our track together. We had all of the components built but the marble track itself was still not together. It came together in the end and ran with out a hitch. When we did a run for the judges and everybody watching cheered for us, I felt a lot of pride for our team and school.
I had a wonderful time at the convention. I was proud to be able to be a part of a great team from a great school representing a great chapter.
[George J. Christ is the President for the academic year '02-03 of the ODU Student Affiliate CSI, Tidewater VA Chapter.]
Bryan Lewis
Old Dominion University
BSET '02
I thought last year's
competition was great; but it was nothing compared to what went on this year at
the competition. Twenty-two teams from across the
United States met in Las
Vegas, Nevada this year for the Student Design Build Competition. Some of the
teams were returning teams from last year and Old Dominion was one of them.
Three of the original ODU team members from last year returned this year
bringing along two new team members. The Old Dominion team consisted of Bryan
Lewis, Rodney Shields, Edwin Stringfield, George Christ, and Jimmell Vaughn (see
photo below).
The competition was similar to last year’s competition; we were given the specs of the competition the night before and had all night to come up with a design. We were also given a list of the materials that were going to be used the night before so we could come up with our design. The next morning we had five hours to build our design. The materials for the project were provided by the host of the competition and were given to us the day the contest started.
It was a long and tense five hours. However, it was all well worth it, because ODU walked away with a first place victory. Old Dominion was the only engineering school present; all the other schools were architectural schools. After winning the competition, we were invited to the Presidential Gala to be recognized as the winners of the competition. It was a very exciting time for me because after coming in seventh last year I really wanted the win this year.
CSI has been a very great organization for me to be in. It taught me a lot about leadership and determination. I just want to thank the ones who got us there. Margaret Chewning, our Chapter Academic Liaison was a very big help in organizing our team and is a big factor in our student organization. Professor Wes Lewis is our faculty advisor, who made sure we stayed on track; he was also a big help and a lot of fun. Thanks guys