Built to win — and built to compete with the nation’s best
UND civil engineering team captures first place at regionals, earns the fastest bridge in the nation and a top-10 finish at the National Student Steel Bridge Competition
Editor’s Note: Parts of the following story were originally published in April 2026 following the UND Steel Bridge Team’s first-place finish at the ASCE Western Great Lakes Student Symposium. This article includes updates on the team’s results from the 2026 National Student Steel Bridge Competition, where UND earned the fastest bridge-construction time in the nation and a seventh-place finish among 44 teams.
At the 2026 ASCE Western Great Lakes Student Symposium, the UND Steel Bridge Team accomplished something the program had been pursuing for years: a first-place overall finish and a trip to nationals.
A month later, the team proved it belonged there.
Competing against 44 teams at the 2026 National Student Steel Bridge Competition in El Paso, Texas, UND assembled the fastest bridge in the nation with a remarkable construction time of 4.92 minutes and finished seventh overall in the national standings. The performance capped a historic season for UND civil engineering students and marked one of the strongest national showings in program history.
“The UND team has done an incredible job pushing our limits and gaining national recognition,” said Dr. Howe Lim, interim chair of the Department of Civil Engineering. “This is the highest we have ever achieved!”
For a team that steadily climbed from third-place regional finishes in recent years to a regional championship this spring, the national competition represented both a reward and an opportunity.
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.
Engineering under pressure
The Student Steel Bridge Competition challenges students to design, fabricate and construct a scale steel bridge while balancing speed, structural performance, economy, efficiency and constructability. Teams spend months designing and fabricating their bridges before assembling them under strict competition rules.
Success requires far more than engineering calculations.
Students must collaborate across disciplines, solve manufacturing challenges, manage project timelines and perform under intense pressure during timed construction events.
“Students develop creativity, learn to optimize available resources, gain hands-on fabrication experience, and collaborate effectively towards a common team goal,” explained Lim. “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.”
The competition mirrors real-world engineering projects, where technical excellence, communication and teamwork are equally important to success.
Fastest bridge in America
At nationals, UND’s bridge delivered exactly where the team expected it to.
Against 44 competing universities from across North America, the UND team earned first place in construction speed by assembling its bridge in just 4.92 minutes — the fastest time recorded at the competition.
The accomplishment reflected hundreds of hours spent refining every aspect of the bridge’s design, fabrication process and construction sequence.
Team President Cooper 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.”
The speed award established UND as the national leader in one of the competition’s most visible and demanding categories.
More importantly, it demonstrated that the team from Grand Forks could compete toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s largest and most established engineering programs.
Excellence beyond the bridge
The team’s success extended beyond the bridge itself.
After earning first place in the regional paper and presentation competition, civil engineering student Sbewu Fipaza continued his winning streak at the national level. His paper, Engineering the Public Welfare: Ethical Infrastructure Design, earned the prestigious Daniel W. Mead Prize after first claiming the regional title.
The award recognizes excellence in engineering communication and professional responsibility, highlighting the importance of ethics and public service within the engineering profession.
Fipaza’s accomplishment gave UND national recognition in both the technical and academic portions of the competition.
A historic season
The achievements capped a remarkable year for the UND student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
At the regional competition, UND earned first place overall, first place in speed, cost estimation and efficiency, second place in aesthetics, stiffness and construction economy, and first place in the paper competition.
Those results propelled the team to nationals and set the stage for an even greater accomplishment.
By season’s end, UND had earned a regional championship, a national speed title, a national paper championship and a seventh-place overall finish among 44 teams.
For a program that has spent years steadily climbing the rankings, the results represent more than a successful competition season. They demonstrate what can happen when talented students are given opportunities to apply classroom knowledge through hands-on experiences that mirror the challenges of professional engineering.
“This year showed what our students are capable of,” Lim said. “They represented UND exceptionally well and demonstrated that our program can compete with the very best.”
Faculty advisor Dr. Sattar Dorafshan said the results reflect a chapter that continues to build momentum through student leadership, technical excellence and a commitment to continuous improvement.
“UND ASCE continues to embody excellence, learning and continuous growth,” Dorafshan said. “This year, the chapter expanded its impact by competing across multiple categories, earning top honors both individually—through the ASCE MEAD awards—and as a team. The SSBC team also advanced to nationals, bringing pride to UND by winning the award for the fastest bridge built in the nation.”
Looking ahead, UND, alongside NDSU, will host the Western Great Lakes ASCE Student Symposium next year.
Written by Paige Prekker // UND College of Engineering & Mines
