The purpose of the competition is to create a unique and innovative design for a prestressed beam that will crack above a load of 18 kips, but fail within 28.8 and 37 kips. Given the constraints it is up to the team to not just build the toughest beam, but one that meets these constraints, be feasible, and is lighter in weight than other competitors. The team will predict the beams performance and will be graded on how well the predictions match the results. Prestressed concrete is the process of pulling the bottom steel reinforcement in tension during fabrication. The concrete of the beam is then cured and the strands are cut. This process of cutting the strands while they are in tension will result in them pulling the bottom of the beam in compression once released. The compression caused in the bottom of the beam will cause the beam to camber and give the beam a higher cracking strength. Camber is the vertical displacement upwards of the center of the beam.

The beam will be tested at NAU's EGR Concrete Lab shown above. Below is an image of TPAC's facility where the beam will be fabricated. The image to the right of it is the relation of where the beam will be fabricated and shipped to for testing.