GREENVILLE — Greenville High School Engineering Tech Prep students once again put their design and engineering skills to the test during the program’s annual balsa wood bridge competition, held Friday, March 6, as part of the celebration of National Engineers Week.
The event marked the 18th annual competition held in partnership with Mote & Associates, with Brumbaugh Construction joining the project this year to provide additional insight from the construction industry. Brumbaugh brings extensive experience building bridges both locally and across Ohio.
“We help mentor the students as they start their designs,” said Jerry McClannan of Mote & Associates, Inc. “We come on the day of the competition to help, look over shoulders, and help score, determining the winners.”
To open the event, Greenville Mayor Jeff Whitaker presented a proclamation recognizing Feb. 22–28, 2026, as National Engineers Week in the City of Greenville.
“It is very good to see this number of students getting involved in engineering,” said Mayor Whitaker. “This career Tech program at Greenville High School is difficult to measure the effectiveness and the effect it will have on our future. These folks are doing a great job with this program and all the different fields but this engineering program I enjoy coming out to this competition.”
Community and industry leaders attending the event included:
Mike Bowers, Darke County Economic Development Director; Denise Elsas, Darke County Economic Development Workforce Specialist; Olivia Schmitmeyer, Darke County Economic Development Career Connections Coordinator; Kristi Strawser, Greenville School Board; Chad Bunger, Greenville School Board; Tom Warner, Greenville School Board; Troy Myers, Brumbaugh Construction, Inc.; Jerry McClannan, Mote & Associates, Inc., Jake Barr, Mote & Associates, Inc.
Engineering Tech Prep instructors Mike Manix and Joshua Moore organized the competition’s project guidelines, which involved 27 junior and senior students working in 9 teams to design and construct balsa wood bridges.
“Events like this let these kids shine,” said Mike Manix, junior class instructor. “It gets their story out – this is what we’re working with, this is what they can do, and then we have the camaraderie of the event, friendly competition. We learn a great lesson working with others and see how they operate. These students learn so many enriching values. They are very teachable, they are very intelligent individuals.”
“We do engineering principles in the first half and then manufacturing in the second half of the year,” said Josh Moore, senior class instructor. “Doing anything hands-on shows you what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are. We have some students planning to go into engineering, others are going to get a trade, so being hands-on and having that skillset is helpful.”
Industry professionals Jerry McClannan (Mote & Associates), Troy Myers, and Joe Raterman (Brumbaugh Construction) worked alongside students beginning Monday, March 2, helping mentor teams as they developed and refined their bridge designs.
“There are some very unique designs,” said Troy Myers. “The designs and how these students got creative with their minds – some very unique designs that are different. The efficiency rating is a cool test because they are so different. Some high-level thinking in this class.”
Past competitions have featured a variety of engineering challenges, including boom cranes and earthquake-resistant multi-story towers. This year’s challenge focused on building balsa wood bridges capable of supporting the greatest weight with the highest efficiency.
During the competition, a bucket was suspended from each bridge deck and gradually filled with sand until the structure collapsed. Efficiency was calculated by dividing the total weight supported by the bridge by the weight of the structure itself.
Students finalized construction the morning of the event. A two-hour fog delay shortened the build time, adding a real-world challenge engineers often face on job sites. Competition Results
First Place (21,096% efficiency)
Sydney Baker, Gabriel Werner, Orrin Simoneau
Second Place (17,655% efficiency)
John Barr, Aiden Manix, David Conway
Third Place (15,451% efficiency)
Rylan Root, Damien Lock, Dagon St. Pierre, Landon Unger
The first-place team will receive certificates and gifts from Mote & Associates in recognition of their winning design.
The annual event provides Greenville students with an opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to real-world engineering problems while working alongside professionals in the engineering and construction fields.
