For the second year in a row, Cal State Northridge's student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers will compete in the National Steel Bridge Competition on Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26, at Clemson University in South Carolina.

CSUN's steel bridge team qualified for the nationals after finishing in first place in the bridge performance event and securing fifth place overall at the regional competition last month in Long Beach.

The team includes junior John Taylor (bridge captain), senior Eladio Lopez , senior Jamie Munoz, senior Ethan Wong, senior Heather Yegiazaryan, senior Ricardo Acosta, junior Carla Zeiler (alternate) and freshman Jason Fernandez (alternate). Their faculty advisor is Edward Larson, professor of civil and manufacturing engineering.

"Our achievement was very outstanding," said civil and manufacturing engineering professor Stephen Gadomski, who helped coordinate the team's efforts.

CSUN is one of 17 universities that comprise the Pacific Southwest Conference. Also in this conference are universities in Southern California, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, all schools in Arizona, and the University of Hawaii. The nation is divided into 20 such regional conferences.