Members of North Dakota State University's student steel bridge competition team knew what it was like to have a prize-winning model bridge-the team won the ASCE/AISC national competition in 2002. After dropping to 12th place in the 2003 competition, the team was determined to win again at this year's finals, held May 28-29, 2004 at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO. With careful planning and an innovative bridge design, NDSU's captain Mitch Okeson led his teammates to capture their second win in just two years. "We really enjoy the competition, and we work really hard with it," said Okeson, who is completing his master's degree at NDSU. "The most rewarding part about it was knowing that we had something that was very competitive, and that we saw our ideas work out in a good economical design. For four of the members of the team, it was our last year, and we wanted to give it our best chance. Our team advisor also is leaving the university, and we wanted to win it for him too. We had a lot of motivation to do well and to go out with a bang."
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