Model bridge builders

Competing with 200 of the "brightest, most creative engineering students from across Canada and the United States to test their knowledge and skills in designing, building and presenting model bridges,” Zane Kharas and his team mates constituting The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen from Ontario’s McMaster University won the 26th annual Troitsky Bridge Building Competition on March 5, 2010, reported the April 2010 issue of the ZSO (Zoroastrian Society of Ontario) newsletter. In doing so, they unseated reigning title-holders Cégep de Chi­cou­timi and ended their six-year consecutive win streak.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comprising Darren Berwick (captain), Matthew Turner, Brandon Kadoski, Kharas, Daniel Perri and Neil Isenegger were one of six teams competing from McMaster and 30 overall from 11 Canadian and US universities. The competition held at Concordia University in Montreal required that each team design and build a bridge with an open span of one meter composed solely of Popsicle sticks, white glue, dental floss and toothpicks, with an overall weight limit of six kilograms. Judging was made up of several criteria including aesthetics, originality, carrying capacity, predicted load capacity, structural efficiency and predicted mode of failure.

The most feared category is the ultimate load carrying capacity test, which sees a device nicknamed the ‘Crusher’ apply loads of up to 6,000 pounds. The team’s bridge achieved a total carrying capacity of 2,733 kg, exceeding the 6,000 pound threshold and beating the previous event record by over 200 kg, it was reported on the McMas­ter website.

The team achieved an overall score of 92.49 out of 100, taking top marks for best over-all bridge design and also winning the award for most innovative design. They won $1,100 in prize money as well as the coveted Tro­itsky trophy. This is the first time that Mc­Mas­ter has taken home the trophy in its 26-year history. Winning the bridge building competition took actually four years, "from 10th place in the first attempt to third place in the third attempt, to first place in the fourth attempt,” mentioned Kharas, in response to Parsiana’s queries.

Zane Kharas (third from right) with co-members of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and prize winning bridge

In true gentlemanly fashion, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen appreciated the many people who helped them in their quest for victory, including the staff members in the department of civil engineering, the machinists in the student machine shop, and the technicians at the Applied Dynamics Laboratory.

With father Ron being a homebuilder and renovator, and mother Yasmin working in the field of architecture, Zane credits his parents as being "a huge influence and are the reason for my interest in engineering which started when they took me to the job site as a child and provided me with Legos to build on my own. They are always there for me and certainly the bridge building success was due in part to them.”

After graduating from McMaster University last year in civil engineering and management, Kharas is currently pursuing his masters in engineering entrepreneurship and innovation at McMaster where he is part of a team founding Clear Cloud Media Inc. "Through our company’s website, small businesses will be able to advertise on digital screens in their community,” explains the engineer crediting his interest in entrepreneurship to his Parsi background: "I believe our ability to create businesses is one of the Parsi commu­nity’s greatest assets.”