The document discusses engineering design tips and past prize amounts for various engineering competitions. It lists prize amounts from 2011 ranging from $17 to $170,000. It provides tips for choosing hollow tubes or solid rods for structures and considering force to strength ratios. Arch bridges are noted to gain their strength from compression forces, making hollow tubes more efficient for arch designs.

5. • 17
$170,000

7. $166,000

8. $157.6k

9. $155, 000

10. $137, 124.02

11. Winner 2011
$75,377.51

12. Winner 2006
$59, 949.07

13. $27,0749.81

14. Winner 2011
$24,6645.29

15. Tips
• Hollow Tube better for Compression
• Solid Rod better for tension
• Consider Forced strength Ratio, (if you are capable of
holding one hundred pounds and only holding thirty,
you are using 30/100 of your potential)
• Base Charge for each new type of member (keep
materials as standardized as possible to help control
costs).
• Arch Bridge’s strength comes from compression (think
Hoover damn, curved to push pressure to sides).
Hollow tubes are more efficient in compression