Students from Bristol University’s Department of Civil Engineering, together with sixth-formers from Crypt School in Gloucester, have just returned from the first international IDEERS Earthquake Engineering Challenge in Taiwan.  

The British Council and the Taiwan National Centre for Research on Earthquake Engineering hosted the competition.  The students competed against 70 other teams from Taiwan and Japan.

The IDEERS challenge required the students to build models of earthquake-resistant buildings using MDF board, paper, string and glue, within six hours.  The next day the models were tested simultaneously to destruction on an earthquake simulator to find the most efficient design. 

The UK teams did not win but their models were judged to be among the best three designs.

Dr Wendy Daniell and Dr Adam Crewe, from the University’s Civil Engineering Department, led the visit.  They devised the IDEERS challenge and have taken it to Taiwan annually since 2001.

Whilst in Taiwan, the students visited two of the world’s major engineering projects currently under construction, the 101 Building in Taipei, which holds three of the world’s tallest building titles, and the Taiwan High Speed Rail Link.

They also visited the sites of a school and a dam damaged during the devastating 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake.  The damaged structures have been retained as a memorial to be viewed, and visitors’ centres are currently under construction at both sites.

Dr Daniell said: ‘The competition is a great way of learning about how structures behave in earthquakes.  It’s also good fun and strengthens the University’s reputation internationally.’

The four sponsors were AEA Technology Rail, Lloyd’s Register, Mott MacDonald and Tony Gee & Partners.