Cambridge team unveils winning ice structure

An impressive ice structure, built and designed by Cambridge students, has won first place in an international competition.

Congratulations to the students for winning the competition, this is a fantastic achievement and testament to their team work and skill. Their hyperboloid cable net ice structure is believed to be the world’s first.
- Dr John Orr

A team of 11 students from the Department of Engineering and the Department of Architecture took part in the Harbin Institute of Technology’s annual International Ice and Snow Innovation Construction Competition held in China last month and won the Best Design and Construction Works Award.

The team, led by third year Engineering student Cam Millar, were tasked with designing and building an ice structure on a 10m x 10m plot in temperatures of as low as -20°C. Over a period of one week, they created a hyperboloid cable net ice structure that is strong in compression and weak in tension. Using a rope suspended from a crane, the structure was sprayed with ice to create a rigid hyperboloid. 

The team competed against four other universities: Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Kent State University and Tsinghua University. 

Dr John Orr, Lecturer in Concrete Structures, who organised the Cambridge team, said: “Congratulations to the students for winning the competition, this is a fantastic achievement and testament to their team work and skill. Their hyperboloid cable net ice structure is believed to be the world’s first."

The competition is the result of an ongoing collaboration between IASS Working Group 21 and HIT which looks to expand research and teaching in innovative ice structures. The group is chaired by Professor Arno Pronk from TU/e and Dr Orr.

For a full list of the Cambridge team members and further images click here

Reproduced courtesy of University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering



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