This Week:

According to our schedule, we will be meeting at Lend Lease’s office Thursday, November 10, 2011. Yes, we discussed something else last week, but we were wrong and we’re going to stick to the schedule. Our office is located at 1 N. Wacker Drive, in Suite 850 (on the 8^th floor):

The entrance looks like this:

This week is COLLEGE NIGHT! You should have already turned in your survey either last week or via email. If you haven’t, fill it out anyway and email it ahead of time or bring it with you tomorrow. It can help you start thinking about college even if you don’t want to think too hard yet.

Let’s recap our last meeting, November 3:

First Part: Intro to Structural Engineering

We met at Thornton Tomasseti’s office. There was a presentation on what structural engineering actually is. We learned about different forces, like compression, tension and shear. We learned about members like beams and columns and different construction materials like steel and concrete.

We also got to play with candy. Imagine this is a marshmallow:

Second Part: Intro to Construction Management

Construction managers from Lend Lease gave an introductory presentation on what exactly it is that we do. We went through the different types of things we do during the different phases of the project. During preconstruction, we plan out how were going to build the building with costs, scheduling and site logistics. During the project, we manage costs, coordinate between different trades (like plumbing, electrical, drywall, etc) and keep workers safe. After the project, we wrap up costs and hand the building over to the new owners. There was unfortunately no candy during this presentation.

Third Part: Italian Fashion Activity Spaghetti Hats

Not the kind of spaghetti hat I was thinking of…

Here we go!

We split into teams and competed to build the tallest spaghetti structure, but on a person’s head. While each team’s hat was different, they all had similar characteristics. Each hat had a base that fit someone’s head and went up in a pyramid-type shape:

It seemed that most hats were too tall to stand up straight on their own:

But we made it anyway.

A few things to think about:

• How many times did we run out of materials?
• How many pieces of spaghetti went into each “beam”?
• Which “beams” were most successful?
• Did the spaghetti break first, or the tape?
• How did the time limit affect the hats?

One more thing regarding the hats: this is probably the coolest picture Fariha took last week:

and now, without further ado…

ACE Team Six Trivia of the Week:

How many colleges offer architecture degree programs (bachelors, masters, doctorate) in the state of Illinois?

List them out in the comments! If no one gets them ALL, the student with the most correct answers will win a small prize. Please don’t forget to leave your name.