COMING SOON: THE 2012 WEST POINT BRIDGE DESIGN CONTEST! The United States 
Military Academy is pleased to offer the West Point Bridge Design Contest once
again. The purpose of this Internet-based competition is to provide middle school 
and high school students with a realistic, engaging introduction to engineering. 
The contest website is at http://bridgecontest.usma.edu. 

The Qualifying Round of the contest runs from January 17 to March 1, 2012.  Anyone 
may enter, but only U.S. students age 13 through grade 12 are eligible to compete for 
prizes. Students may compete individually or in teams to two. Participation is FREE! 
Each member of the winning team will receive a $10,000 scholarship; second-place team 
members will each receive a $5,000 scholarship; and each finalist will receive 
a notebook computer.  

To enter, students should: (1) Form a team. (2) Download and install the award-
winning West Point Bridge Designer software, available for free from the contest 
website.  (3) Use this software to design a bridge. (4) Return to the contest 
website to register and to upload the bridge design for judging. The website will 
provide immediate feedback about the contestants' current standing. Contestants 
may submit as many designs as they wish.  For more information, including the official contest rules, 
see the contest website at http://bridgecontest.usma.edu. 

Teachers and engineering professionals who wish to run a local bridge design 
contest in conjunction with the national competition should see 
http://bridgecontest.usma.edu/local.htm for instructions.  

The U.S. Military Academy provides this contest as a service to education--and 
as a tribute to the Academy's two hundred years of service to the United States 
of America.