August 03, 2021
Recently, two student teams from the Department of Civil Engineering at XJTLU won second prizes in the 17th Jiangsu University Civil Engineering Structural Innovation Competition, marking a good start as the department’s first participation in the competition.
The competition enjoys the highest level and largest scale among university student’s innovative competitions in the civil engineering field. This year, 57 innovative structural models and 31 light-weight bridge models from 66 universities from Jiangsu participated in the competition.
Awarded project 1: Taihu Lake Observation Tower
Inspired from modern architecture observation towers that blend in with the natural environment, the tower was designed using topology optimisation based on the local wind loading conditions. The tower was designed to look as slim as possible and the shape is meant to blend with the natural surroundings. The complex geometric-shaped model was fabricated using 3D printing.
Awarded project 2: Floating Complex resilient to sea level rise
This model shows a rather futuristic floating complex meant to be resilient to sea level rise, which is designed to be flexible with residential as well as commercial spaces. The pod-shaped areas align with the main central tower to create a more or less self-sustainable environment. All the spaces are functional and most of the energy would come from sustainable sources. The whole structure is lightweight with combinations of grids and ties.
The teams were supervised by Dr. Jian Liu and Dr. Charles Loo from the Department.
“The competition was a good opportunity for the students to meet and interact with students from other universities in Jiangsu province and to see what type of projects their peers are working on” says Dr Charles Loo.
By Yi Qian
Photos courtesy of the Department of Civil Engineering
August 03, 2021