Registration is open till March 12, 2027!

About us

Meet our GST Organizing Committee!

Who we are:

The 2027 New Jersey GST Bridge Competition stands for the Garden State Truss Bridge Competition, a statewide structural engineering competition created for New Jersey high school students.

Led by Ryan Li, our team is made up of college students from different universities who came together because of a shared interest in STEM outreach, engineering, and creating meaningful academic competitions for students across New Jersey.

Our team, previously seniors in high school, founded and hosted the 2026 New Jersey Statewide High School Integration Bee at Raritan Valley Community College, which brought together students from across the state for a fast-paced calculus competition and was a tremendous success. Click here if you want to learn more!

Building on that momentum, GST was inspired by a bridge-building competition first organized by Ryan at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in September 2025. After seeing how much excitement a hands-on engineering event could create, we realized there still wasn’t a dedicated statewide bridge competition in New Jersey focused on wood structural design.

So we decided to build one.

Our goal is to create a competition where students can design, build, and test basswood truss bridges in a true head-to-head setting while also connecting with students from across the state who share the same interest in engineering.

This is only the start. We hope GST becomes the first of many statewide STEM competitions and helps build a stronger tradition of student-led academic events in New Jersey.

GST Organizing Committee

Ryan Li

Event Director/Host

Student at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Leads the overall planning and coordination for the 2027 New Jersey GST Bridge Competition, ensuring the event runs smoothly from registration to live load testing. Experienced in structural design principles, competition strategy, and past participation in STEM and engineering contests. Oversees competition format, bridge design rules, team participation, and collaboration with university students, judges, and host faculty to create a high-quality statewide engineering event.

Andre Nalliannan

Assistant Director

Student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

Assists with scheduling, venue coordination, and event logistics for the 2027 New Jersey GST Bridge Competition. Helps ensure the competition runs smoothly, stays organized, and remains accessible for all participating students while supporting overall event-day operations, bridge testing flow, and team coordination.

Matthew Yu

Logistics Coordinator

Student at the University of Toronto

Supports scheduling, venue coordination, materials distribution, and overall event-day logistics for the 2027 New Jersey GST Bridge Competition. Helps organize team check-in, bridge submission, testing order, and room flow to ensure the competition remains smooth, efficient, and well-coordinated for all participants.

Aaditya Jambhekar

Social Media Director

Student of Bridgewater-Raritan High School

Manages the 2027 New Jersey GST Bridge Competition’s social media presence by creating promotional posts, sharing updates, and building excitement around the event. Helps drive team registration, keeps students engaged before competition day, and showcases partnerships with university students, faculty, and host institutions.

Past Events

Take a look at photos and highlights from some of the exciting events we’ve hosted in the past. Each one reflects the fun, teamwork, and energy that inspired us to keep building bigger competitions like GST!