Imagine Cornell's Lynah Rink with twice as much seating and a domed translucent fabric or peaked plastic roof that would glow in the night sky. Such student-inspired design ideas could be in store for the Lynah Faithful (Big Red hockey fans) and other hockey fanatics in the years to come.

It was merely a class project when Ken Hover assigned his students in "Civil Infrastructure Design" (CEE 474) last semester the task of designing a Lynah Rink renovation that would double the seating capacity (now about 3,836) of the venerable arena without touching the ice or the bench seats already in place. (A $1 million renovation in the summer of 2000 replaced the rink floor, drainage system, frost protection, and refrigeration piping, as well as adding new boards and seamless glass.) But when the students in the class presented their plans recently, Hover, a professor of civil and environmental engineering (CEE), and his five fellow professorial instructors weren't the only ones who came to listen. Because an enhancement of the 47-year-old structure is on a lot of people's minds, the audience at the presentation also included: Susan Murphy, vice president for student and academic services; Philip Cox, director of facilities management; Andy Noel, director of athletics and physical education administration and facilities; and Gregg Travis, director of contract colleges facilities.

"The presentations for doubling the seating were first-rate," said Cox. "I was particularly impressed with the graphics they used, how diverse the designs were, and how the students presented the designs."   Cox, who has had season tickets to Cornell hockey for more than 25 years, said he sympathizes with students who camp outside the rink for hours to get tickets but often can't get them due to inadequate seating.

A couple of the engineering students' designs "were really radical and showed out-of-the-box thinking, such as a transparent roof and an asymmetrical flying wedge-shaped roof," Cox added. The designs, though unusual, were realistic design solutions and merit further consideration when Cornell decides to consider a Lynah expansion, he noted.

Hover pointed out that "the students had to research and consider all the parts and pieces involved in supporting a new roof — such details as having to anticipate the impact of temperature changes on the roof, from minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter to a summertime roof temperature of 120 degrees," he said.

Robbyn Jadney, a junior civil engineering major from East Windsor,NJ, said, "We were responsible for designing everything from the roofing system down to the footings, including detailed plans for the additional second-level bleachers." The faculty, she said, "treated us like we were professional engineering firms. We had to submit conceptual and final designs as well as prepare final presentations. The assignment has definitely prepared me for work after Cornell."

The course was instructed by six CEE professors in all: Hover on concrete; Anthony Ingraffea on fracture and failure of structural elements; Teoman Pekoz on structural steel; and Fred Kulhawy, Thomas O ’Rourke, and Harry Stewart on soil behavior and foundation engineering.

—Susan Lang, Cornell News Service