The University of Miami College of Engineering (UMCoE) Concrete Bowling Ball team, formed by American Concrete Institute (ACI) and American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter members, won second place in the Fiber Reinforced Concrete Bowling Ball Competition sponsored by Florida Concrete & Products Association (FC&PA) on February 7, 2020 in Orlando, Florida.
With this victory, University of Miami has extended its winning streak in this competition. The team comprised of 8 undergraduate students – Brandon Rojas (BSAE ’22), Matthew Uva (BSCE ’22), Drew Rich (BSCE ’21), Johnathan Ingram (BSCE ’21), Montale Tuen (BSCE ’21), Leslie Purvis (BSCE ’21), Jan Lin (BSCE ’21) and Ben Kern (BSCE ’21). This is the largest contingent the ‘U’ has ever sent for this contest.
“It has been an exciting first experience. I would definitely like to participate again in this event”, said Purvis. This team will be representing the University of Miami in the national competition, which will be held in March at the ACI’s spring convention in Rosemont, Illinois.
This annual competition, which includes teams from top Florida Universities, requires students to construct two bowling balls out of fiber-reinforced concrete. This year saw participation from University of Florida, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of North Florida, University of Central Florida and Florida Gulf Coast University. The bowling balls were judged on their weight mechanical properties, a corresponding poster presentation about the design and an actual bowling competition. The event was an invaluable experience, providing students with a one-on-one opportunity to meet industry leaders and academicians from across Florida.
The team utilized the UMCoE Johnson & Johnson 3D Printing Center of Excellence Collaborative Laboratory (Collaborative Lab) to create the molds for geometry optimization of the bowling balls.
“It has been an exciting challenge to come up with a solution as a spherical shape is difficult to achieve using concrete and we hope to do well in the Nationals as well!,” said Tuen, who is being mentored by the graduate students to take over as team captain next year.
This year also saw a significant increase in graduate student participation. Three graduate students – Nancy Lewis (MSCM ’20), Justin Miller (BSCE ’19,MSCE ’20), and Sivakumar Ramanathan (PhD candidate in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (CAE)), who served as mentors for the undergraduate team thanked the Department of CAE and Collaborative Lab for their support.
“We would like to especially thank our supervisors Dr. Francisco De Caso y Basalo and Dr. Diana Arboleda in the Department of CAE, for the help they provided throughout the entire process,” Sivakumar said. “We also are very thankful to our sponsors – CAE, Titan, and FC&PA for their support.”
