John Brown University hosted the Samaritan's Purse International Relief's 5th annual Disaster Shelter Design Competition on April 21-23. A panel of judges evaluated the shelter designs for possible implementation in relief efforts worldwide.
"A competition like this is a great resource for everyone involved," said Mark Terrill, assistant professor of construction management and competition coordinator. "This competition provides some of the region's most innovative engineers, architects and construction management students an opportunity to create practical solutions to real-world problems, like the current refugee crisis."
This year's competition scenario is based on needs of displaced people and refugees currently fleeing to Albania and Macedonia from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. The shelters were required to be easily transported and constructed, spacious enough for a family of four, culturally appropriate for the given situation, support a year or longer of transitional living, and cost less than $1,500 to reproduce.
Nine teams from universities including Dordt College of Sioux Center, Iowa, Pittsburg State University of Pittsburg, Kan., Gyeongsang National University of Jinju, South Korea, Judson University of Elgin, Ill., Murray State University of Murray, Ky., University of Arkansas at Little Rock and John Brown University submitted preliminary shelter plans in November and presented their refined prototypes for durability tests on campus last week. Testing included earthquake sustainability, heat retention, overnight habitability and wind resistance.
New to this year's competition was an emergency shelter construction test. Samaritan's Purse supplied all nine teams with a kit of boards, plastic sheeting, tools, nails, wire and corrugated galvanized iron. Teams were evaluated on their ability to quickly design and construct emergency shelters from the given materials. The shelters were scored separately from the longterm shelters and were tested against wind and water.
Throughout the competition, teams had the opportunity to win individual events. Murray State University won the shelter assembly challenge with a setup time of 11 minutes. Dordt College won the heat retention test with a 40-degree temperature drop over 30 minutes. UALR won the wind challenge, their shelter withstanding 130 mph winds for over two minutes before blowing over.
Overall, teams were scored not only on their shelter's performance on the individual events, but also on their presentations detailing their shelter's schematics, design and materials. Winners were announced today at the awards ceremony. UALR received first place, Pittsburg State received second place and Gyeongsang National University received third place overall.
Additionally, in the short-term emergency shelter construction event, JBU won first place, UALR won second place and Pittsburg State won third place.
General News on 04/27/2016