Chippewa Valley Technical College joined some of the most prestigious engineering schools in the nation Thursday, Nov. 30, with the placement of a 1.5-ton steel teaching sculpture on the grounds of the Energy Education Center.

The sculpture, standing nine feet tall and eight feet deep and wide, consists of a series of galvanized steel beams connected in varying angles with varying connection methods.

The sculpture shows the different ways steel beams can be joined, along with different welds and fasteners, said Al Spaeth, program director of CVTCs Architectural Structural Design program. It will help students visualize the connections they are learning about in the classroom.

The original steel sculpture was erected on the University of Florida's campus in Gainesville on October 29, 1986. Created by Duane Ellifritt, Ph.D., P.E., Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at UF, the structure was envisioned to be a full-size 3D model that would provide engineering students with up-close, hands-on exposure to structural steel members and connections.

A few years after the first sculpture was installed, AISC requested and received permission to use and promote a scaled-down version of the sculpture as a teaching aid. Modified versions of the original steel sculpture now exist on more than 170 campuses worldwide.

The school partnered with Merrill Steel of Schofield, WI to complete the project. Merrill Iron donated the steel and their services to help the students create this sculpture. They decided if they are going to do this project, it needs to last; so they contacted the galvanizer who donated the galvanizing for this project. 

This galvanized sculpture will provide students with hands-on learning opportunities for many years to come.