Built to win
UND civil engineering team captures first at regional Steel Bridge competition, advances to Nationals
A first-place finish years in the making has the University of North Dakota’s civil engineering students headed to the national stage.
At the 2026 ASCE Western Great Lakes Student Symposium, the UND Steel Bridge team earned first place overall, marking a major milestone for the program and sending the team to the 2026 Student Steel Bridge Competition National Finals at the University of Texas at El Paso on May 22-23. The regional symposium, co-hosted by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the University of St. Thomas, brought together 19 universities from across the Western Great Lakes region for several days of competition, networking and professional development.
For UND, the finish builds on years of steady progress.
“In 2022 and 2024, we earned third place overall at the Western Great Lakes competitions, securing qualification for the national competitions,” said Dr. Howe Lim, interim chair of the Department of Civil Engineering. “In 2025, we advanced to second place overall and again qualified for the national. This year, 2026, the UND Civil Engineering team achieved first place overall.”
That top finish carries weight because success in the Student Steel Bridge Competition demands far more than fast assembly. Organized by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Institute of Steel Construction, the competition challenges students to design, fabricate and construct a scale-model steel bridge while balancing efficiency, speed, stiffness and economy.
“Claiming first place overall is no small feat, as the team must excel across multiple categories in the steel bridge competition,” Lim said. “These include assembling the bridge model in the shortest time possible, ensuring adequate stiffness and structural efficiency, producing accurate cost estimates while minimizing expenses, and finally, delivering a visually appealing bridge model.”
Lim said that kind of challenge is exactly what makes the competition so valuable for students preparing to enter the profession.
“Students develop creativity, learn to optimize available resources, gain hands-on fabrication experience, and collaborate effectively towards a common team goal,” he said. “These experiences collectively shape them into motivated professionals prepared to work in real-world civil engineering team environments, where communication and technical collaboration are essential.”
A total of 20 UND students attended the symposium, along with faculty advisor Dr. Sattar Dorafshan. Along with the student organization’s big win at the bridge building competition, UND civil engineering student Sbewu Fipaza earned first place for his paper and presentation titled “Engineering the Public Welfare: Ethical Infrastructure Design.”
For Cooper Auge, president of the UND Steel Bridge team, this year’s success came from a mix of experience, new energy and stronger technical execution.
“This year’s success came from a combination of dedication and improved technical execution,” Auge said. “Our returning members brought valuable experience, while our new members jumped in with enthusiasm and a strong work ethic.”
He said the team also improved how it built the bridge.
“We also implemented new fabrication processes that allowed us to build the bridge with greater precision than in past years,” Auge said. “Having access to UND’s facilities and the expertise available on campus made it possible for us to design and fabricate a structurally efficient bridge that performed exactly how we intended.”
Auge, who organized the team and led the bridge’s design, fabrication and construction at the competition, said one of the biggest rewards came in watching the team deliver when it counted.
“The biggest highlight was seeing our team come together during every part of the competition,” he said. “Watching everyone support each other, stay focused, and execute under pressure made all the work leading up to the event worth it. Placing well was the cherry on top.”
Autumn Bergum, president of the UND American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter, said the group’s growth this year was especially encouraging because so many newer students stepped into the experience.
“Previous leaders and a strong core of current senior leadership allowed for the recruiting of new dedicated members, which allowed us to keep improving on the past years,” Bergum said.
She said managing a larger and younger group brought challenges, but it also became one of the weekend’s most memorable strengths.
“Having a much larger and younger group than usual that consisted of mostly new members was hard to navigate at first,” Bergum said, “but it was so rewarding to see everyone come together and be so supportive of each other at all the events.”
Both student leaders emphasized that the achievement was backed by a broad group of supporters. Auge credited Dorafshan for guidance throughout the competition cycle and thanked Harry Feilen, Andrew Dahlen and Jay Evenstad for support with facilities, machining and manufacturing. Bergum also recognized Feilen, Jay Kleven (UND Civil Engineering ’96 alumnus and Senior Project Manager at AE2S), Joe Egan and Margaret Laumb for helping the team along the way.
Now, attention turns to El Paso, where regional winners from across North America will meet for the national finals. The event will bring together winners from 19 regional competitions for two days of structural engineering competition at UTEP.
The UND team is arriving with momentum and bigger goals.
“There’s a lot of momentum, and several members are already brainstorming improvements so we can refine the bridge even further,” Auge said. “The energy is high, and everyone is motivated to push for a top finish at Nationals.”
Bergum said the team has been aiming for this moment all year.
“We are ecstatic!” she exclaimed. “We’ve been talking about the goal of first and making it to El Paso, TX all year, and we did it. We have our eyes set on a high placing at Nationals, and everyone is excited to help make it happen.”
Final results for the UND Steel Bridge Team at the 2026 ASCE Western Great Lakes Student Symposium:
- Overall: 1st Place
- Construction Speed: 1st Place
- Cost Estimate: 1st Place
- Efficiency: 1st Place
- Aesthetics: 2nd Place
- Stiffness: 2nd Place
- Construction Economy: 2nd Place
Written by Paige Prekker // UND College of Engineering & Mines
