USU Team Earned Rookie of the Year Award at Seismic Design Competition

The Utah State University Earthquake Engineering Research Institute student chapter recently celebrated several awards after competing in this year’s Seismic Design Competition, hosted by the University of California, Berkeley.

This competition involves designing a model building using balsa wood, which is then tested on a shaker table to simulate earthquake conditions. USU’s model stood 5 feet tall and featured a tunnel running through floors five through seven. Teams were judged on multiple criteria, including their oral presentation, summary poster, architectural design, adherence to design criteria and constraints, analytical prediction of structural performance and the model’s actual response during shaker table testing.

“We ended up winning everything we could have hoped for, and we couldn't have done it without every member of our team,” said Joseph Stringham, student captain of the USU EERI student chapter.

The team placed 12th overall out of 48 schools representing 14 countries across five continents. They also earned the Rookie of the Year award, recognizing them as the highest-ranked among the nine first-time teams. In individual categories, USU placed seventh for their proposal, ninth for their presentation, and 10th for their poster — ranking seventh overall in communication.

The Seismic Design Competition aims to promote the study of earthquake engineering among undergraduate students by offering a hands-on opportunity to design and construct a cost-effective frame building capable of resisting seismic loads. It also seeks to increase awareness of EERI activities among civil engineering students and the broader public, while encouraging international participation in these initiatives.