A Tower Crane Made from One Kilogram of Spaghetti Lifted Three Kilograms at the National Varna Spaghetti Engineering Competition
31 october 2026
A tower crane built from less than one kilogram of spaghetti lifted a load of three kilograms at the 12th national creative skills competition, Varna Spaghetti Engineering 2026, held today at Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar”. Organised by the Department of Construction of Buildings and Facilities at the Faculty of Architecture, the event brought together 16 student teams from eight vocational high schools specialising in construction, architecture and geodesy across the country. The competition was opened by the university’s Vice-President, Yani Yanev, and the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Assoc. Prof. Dr Eng. Rositsa Petkova-Slipets, who welcomed the participants and wished them success.
Within 180 minutes, students from Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo, Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Kardzhali, Burgas, Shumen and Varna had to transform one kilogram of spaghetti into working engineering structures with the help of university students from the Construction of Buildings and Facilities and Architecture programmes. Following the presentation of their designs, the tower cranes were tested using specially made 300-gram concrete weights, with the load gradually increased until the structures collapsed. The final ranking was determined by a combined assessment of complexity, economy of materials, load-bearing capacity and originality.
First place won the team “Pasta under Pressure” from Kolyo Ficheto Vocational High School of Construction, Architecture and Geodesy in Burgas, comprising Ismet Osman, Denitsa Madzhurova and Lilia Valieva, with team leader Eng. Kremena Markova and student adviser Asya Yankova. The team built the tallest tower crane, measuring 235 cm, with a 112 cm-long jib. The structure lifted a load of 600 grams and received the highest overall score from the jury.
Second place was awarded to “Engineering Minds” from Hristo Botev Vocational High School of Construction, Architecture and Geodesy in Sofia, comprising Ventseslav Dimov, Danaya Deneva and Martin Kaschiev, with team leader Eng. Diana Nikolova and student adviser Nikolay Nikolov. Their 180 cm-high tower crane lifted a full 3,000 grams - ten concrete cubes.
Third place went to “Pasta Masters” from Tsar Ivan Asen II Vocational High School of Construction in Haskovo, comprising Nadezhda Delitoneva, Mihaela Delcheva and Kristiana Dimitrova, with team leader Eng. Nedelina Aleksandrova and student adviser Monika Gushleva. The team presented a sound structural concept, and its tower crane, built from approximately 650 grams of spaghetti, lifted a load of 1,200 grams.
The professional chambers and partners also presented special awards. The award from the Varna Regional College of the Chamber of Engineers in Investment Design went to “Steffy’s Construction Co” from Lubor Bayer Vocational High School of Construction, Architecture and Geodesy in Stara Zagora. The Varna Regional Representative Office of the Bulgarian Construction Chamber recognised “Spaghetti Construct” from Shumen for its design featuring a rotating crane jib. The award from the Varna Regional College of the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria was presented to “Spaghetti Masters” from Angel Popov Vocational High School of Construction, Architecture and Geodesy in Veliko Tarnovo. Ha-Be Bulgaria recognised the team “Chemistry” from Vasil Levski Vocational High School of Construction, Architecture and Geodesy in Varna for the most efficient use of resources.
During the awards ceremony, Eng. Dian Georgiev, Manager of Planex Varna Ltd. and a member of the jury, encouraged the participants to learn from the solutions developed by the other teams and return even better prepared for the next edition. Assoc. Prof. Dr Eng. Ivan Pavlov, Chairperson of the Varna Regional College of the Chamber of Engineers in Investment Design, highlighted the students’ new ideas and their courage to experiment.
The winners received impressive trophies produced using a 3D printer in the additive technologies laboratory at Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar”, certificates and prizes from the partners. The teachers who led the three winning teams also received vouchers for a spa weekend for two at the Sunny Day resort.
The jury was chaired by Assoc. Prof. Dr Eng. Daria Mihaleva, Head of the Department of Construction of Buildings and Facilities. Its members included Assoc. Prof. Dr Eng. Ivan Pavlov, Chair of the Varna Regional College of the Chamber of Engineers in Investment Design; Eng. Anton Obretenov, member of the Supervisory Board of the Varna Regional Representative Office of the Bulgarian Construction Chamber; Arch. Georgi Naydenov, Secretary of the Varna Regional College of the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria; Eng. Dian Georgiev, Manager of Planex Varna Ltd.; and Galin Kolev, Manager of Ha-Be Bulgaria Ltd.
The competition coordinator was Assist. Prof. Eng. Tihomira Kordon, who has taken part in every edition in different roles - as a competitor, mentor and coordinator. Once again, the competition brought together students, teachers, university lecturers and representatives of the construction industry around an unconventional engineering challenge requiring knowledge, imagination and teamwork.
The competition was held with the support of the Chamber of Engineers in Investment Design, the Bulgarian Construction Chamber, the Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria, Hidrostroy JSC, Planex Varna Ltd., Atrim Ltd., MS Build Invest Ltd., Apartinvest Ivanovi Ltd., Ha-Be Bulgaria Ltd., Röfix Ltd. and Hilti Bulgaria Ltd. The media partners were Stroitel newspaper, the Moreto.net news portal and Radio Varna.
