A tradition forged in steel

Kate Avery
907-474-5414
June 12, 2025

UAF civil engineering students celebrate after earning fourth place overall at the 2025 national Student Steel Bridge Competition, with additional honors in construction speed and structural efficiency. Seated proudly on their assembled bridge, from left to right, are Lori Kromm (incoming 2025–2026 Steel Bridge Captain), Darya Kholodova (2024–2025 ASCE President), Samuel Banks, Lucas Gomes (2024–2025 Steel Bridge Captain), Griffin Bailly (incoming 2025–2026 ASCE President), and mentor Wilhelm Muench (adjunct instructor). All wear matching blue UAF shirts and hard hats, holding colorful signs with engineering puns like “IN STEEL BRIDGE WE TRUSS,” “FAST & FERROUS,” and “TRUSS US, WE’RE ENGINEERS!” A bright red Iowa State University backdrop emphasizes the formal setting. The photo captures not just team pride but also the strength of their peer-led leadership and mentorship model. — From left, Lori Kromm, Darya Kholodova, Griffin Bailly, Lucas Gomes, Samuel Banks and mentor Wilhelm Muench gather after taking fourth overall at the 2025 Student Steel Bridge Competition.

In just six minutes and 33 seconds, a bridge came together.

That time marked the result of months of planning, design and fabrication by civil engineering students at the �Ĳ�ͼ�� College of Engineering and Mines.

The UAF team placed fourth in the 2025 national Student Steel Bridge Competition held May 30-31 at Iowa State University. On a red-taped gym floor, the team members assembled their structure with practiced precision. Every motion was rehearsed. Every second earned.

Their efforts earned them third place in the construction speed category of the competition.

“In past years, one of our biggest time sinks was aligning bolt holes during construction,” said team captain Lucas Gomes. “So we designed a connection that temporarily locks with prealigned holes, then rotates into final position after the bolt is inserted. We 3D-printed it first to test it under real conditions. It saved us minutes.”

Darya Kholodova, American Society of Civil Engineers UAF student chapter president, holds the team’s third-place award for structural efficiency at the 2025 Student Steel Bridge Competition national finals at Iowa State University. She will next begin a master’s program in geotechnical engineering at the University of California, Davis, where her focus will be on dam safety and soil-structure resilience.

Lucas Gomes, 2024-2025 steel bridge team captain and graduating civil engineering student, holds the team’s third-place award for construction speed. His bolt alignment innovation helped shave crucial minutes off assembly time. Gomes will begin his engineering career in Portland, Oregon.

The competition, sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers, challenges students to apply classroom concepts to real-world steel design and fabrication. In 2025, the national finals brought together 43 of the top engineering schools from across North America.

The task is simple to explain but difficult to master: Design and build a scale-model steel bridge that balances strength, speed, cost, weight, efficiency and aesthetics.

This year’s scenario simulated a river crossing in a protected wildlife corridor. Teams had to preserve paddler access, build around a virtual sandbar and beat the clock.

In addition to placing third in speed, the UAF team earned third in structural efficiency.

UAF has competed at the national level since 1993. In a field often filled with larger engineering programs and deeper budgets, CEM continues to stand out.

This year’s team included Gomes, ASCE UAF student chapter President Darya Kholodova, incoming steel bridge team captain Lori Kromm, incoming ASCE student chapter President Griffin Bailly and Samuel Banks. Faculty mentors Wilhelm Muench and professor Il-Sang Ahn provided technical guidance and support, but the students led every phase from concept to construction.