At the Lincoln-Way East Bridge Contest held on December 9, 2025, there were a total of 140 entries. Of these, 103 came from Physics classes, 33 from Chemistry classes, and 4 from teachers.
The overall LWE winner was Thomas Stoiber, whose bridge weighed just 10.1 grams—about the mass of two nickels—and supported 22 kg (48 lbs). The winning bridge is determined by efficiency, calculated as the load held divided by the mass of the bridge. Thomas achieved an efficiency of 2178, meaning his bridge held 2,178 times its own mass.
The 2nd–4th place finishers were:
Alexa Grove Schneider – Efficiency: 2155
Logan Murphy – Efficiency: 2150
Robert Chavez – Efficiency: 2101
All four students have earned the opportunity to represent LWE at the regional contest at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) on January 21, 2026.
Mike Murphy, coordinator of the contest and LWE science teacher, said, "I was extremely impressed with both the quality and the quantity of bridges entered in this year’s competition. This event has become a great tradition at LWE, and the students demonstrated remarkable participation, creativity, and effort. It is always exciting to see students apply classroom concepts to hands-on projects, and it was evident from the thoughtful designs and impressive results that many devoted significant time and hard work."
The teachers involved in this year’s contest were: Michael Murphy, Wes Cooley, Maria Wilson, Dawn McAvoy, Jaime Voliva, Beth Swaney, Shane Tucker, Carlie Premo, April Richter, Madelyn Daley, John Willis, and Nick Schwieger.