Congrats to a team of Oregon State University School of Civil and Construction Engineering students as they captured the national title in the 2014 Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Big Beam Contest! The squad, consisting of students Luke Cressman, Drew Nielson, Sandy Spencer, Jarrett Yanagida, and advised by Keith Kaufmann of the Knife River Corporation, took home a $2000 prize with the victory. In addition, the team will attend the 2014 PCI Fall Convention, held in National Harbor, Md., from Sept. 6-9.

OSU, which won the national title for the fourth time, also took home top spot in the region, placing ahead of Sacramento State, Northern Arizona, UC San Diego, and Washington.

The year-long contest consisted of  fabricating and testing a precast/prestressed concrete beam with the help of a local advisor. Prizes were awarded to the top performers in each zone in consideration of efficient design, highest load capacity, and other categories. For more information about the contest, visit the official rules.