500-GRAM BRIDGES OF SPAGHETTI BEAR 13-KILOGRAM LOADS

17 November 2019

Bridges made from 500 g of spaghetti bear loads of over 13 kg, and with a spaghetti spherical dome one can design an observatory, a dome of a church, a modern science museum or even a stadium. The 6 university student and 13 school student teams participating in the Varna Spaghetti Engineering International Competition for Creative Skills showed this yesterday. The event is being held for the seventh consecutive year at Varna Free University at the discretion of the Department of Construction of Buildings and Structures. The team of the competition, headed by Assoc. Prof. Milena Kichekova, PhD won the prestigious Varna Award for 2019.

This year, the school students chose to make spaghetti domes and the university students preferred bridges. Each team had two packets of spaghetti, 10 sticks of silicone, a protractor, a ruler, a box cutter, and three hours to create their model. Prof. Anna Nedyalkova, D.Sc. Chairperson of the VFU Board of Trustees struck the spaghetti gong. She wished the participants of the competition to build the strongest and most elegant bridges between the past and the future, which would be the connection of knowledge with their future careers.

The undisputed winner in the construction of domes was the team Utopia from the Vocational Secondary School of Architecture and Geodesy "Architect Kamen Petkov" from Plovdiv. They constructed with 191 spaghetti 3v spherical dome, borrowed from the Russian churches. To get the perfect shape, the team began building the dome from top to bottom using three-dimensional pentagons and spaghetti hexagons.

Second was the Diada team from the Vocational Secondary School of Construction, Architecture and Geodesy in Shumen, and third was the Bolonese team from the Vocational Secondary School of Construction, Architecture and Geodesy “Hristo Botev”. They presented a spaghetti project of a new type of art gallery of classic truss with bolt-on connections. The award of the Bulgarian Construction Chamber was taken by the Alfa team from Vocational Secondary School of Construction, Architecture and Geodesy - Burgas for the project for an open dome for a future observatory. The second team from Burgas - Kolio Ficheto, received the Ha-Be Bulgaria awards for the idea of a modern nature science museum, which will show extinct animal species with holograms. Bolyari from Veliko Tarnovo are spending the weekend at the first Bulgarian seaside resort "St. Constantine and St. Helena" after receiving their award from the executive director of the holding. The Varna Municipality Award went to the Art 2020 team of Vocational Secondary School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy “Vasil Levski” in Varna. They borrowed the idea of their dome from the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.

The first place among the university students was taken by Cosmos Engineering - a team of Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar” - Georgi Dimitrov, Andreyan Maslinkov and Konstantina Spasova. Their structure easily loads of 13 kg. The team also became the favourite of the audience, and the award, provided by the Polyyord construction company, was presented by Prof. Petar Hristov, PhD - Rector of VFU “Chernorizets Hrabar”.

The students from Kharkov National University of Urban Economics "A. M. Beketov "received the award of the Chamber of Engineers in Investment Design for a Hi-Tech Bridge, a symbol of the friendship between Kharkov University and Varna Free University. The Bulgarian Construction Chamber awards the Young Engineers team. Their bridge also bore loads of 13 kg. Varna Municipality awarded the team Ancient and Eternal, whose bridge was inspired by the craftsmanship of Kolyo Ficheto. The rig collapsed under a load of 8 kg.
The photojournalists who participated in the competition for the most attractive photography last year were awarded. These are Petar Pavlov from the Media Centre at VFU “Chernorizets Hrabar”, Plamen Gutinov from the Black Sea media group and the alumnus-student of Varna Free University Hristo Rusev, whose photography has recently been included in the 100 best CNN pictures. The photos are included in a charity calendar for 2020, and the proceeds from its sale will be earmarked for scholarships for training in the specialties of the Department of Construction of Buildings and Structures of the school students from the winning team of the competition. Peter Pavlov donated his prize for the initiative.

Partners are Varna Municipality, Bulgarian Construction Chamber, Chamber of Engineers of Investment Design and many construction companies from Varna and the region. This year the event was also supported by Savimex OOD, Planex Invest OOD, Hydrostroy AD, Ha-Be, St Constantine and St Helena Holding AD, Polyyord and others.

Photos: Petar Pavlov for VFU “Chernorizets Hrabar”
More photos can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/VarnaFreeUniversity