ITHACA, N.Y. -- Right now, Cornell University planners can only dream of the campus home of Big Red hockey, Lynah Rink, doubling its seating and changing the skyline with a domed translucent-fabric or peaked plastic roof that would glow in the night sky. Yet such ambitious ideas have been inspired by Cornell students -- and they have earned credits doing it.

It was merely a class project when engineering professor Ken Hover assigned his students in Civil Infrastructure Design (CEE 474) this semester the task of designing a Lynah Rink renovation that would double the seating capacity (now about 3,836) of the venerable, much-loved arena without touching the ice or the bench seats already in place. 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 paying close attention. Because an enhancement of the 47-year-old structure is on a lot of people's minds, members of Cornell's administration also came to look and listen.

"The presentations for doubling the seating were first-rate," says director of facilities management Philip 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, says 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 adds. The designs, though unusual, were realistic design solutions and merit further consideration when Cornell decides to consider a Lynah expansion, he notes.

Hover points 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."

Robbyn Jadney, a junior CEE major from East Windsor, N.J., says, "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 says, "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."

Jadney's team kept the same roof-truss design but increased the span and replaced the existing wood members with steel cross-sections.

CEE senior Elizabeth Schneider from Annandale, N.J., was part of the student team that suggested a fabric roof, similar to those used on the Georgia Dome and Syracuse's Carrier Dome. "There is obviously a large need for seat increases in Lynah," she says. "By increasing the seating, not only will Cornell satisfy the needs of its students, but it will also increase its own revenue through ticket sales. It is a winning situation for both sides."

Schneider adds, "While keeping the seating materials the same and keeping the truss design similar to the one currently in place, we were able also to keep the familiar intimacy that the Lynah Faithful [fans of Big Red hockey] love. But, with the addition of the fabric roof, we were also able to give Lynah a big-dome feel."

The course was instructed by six CEE professors: 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.

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o Lynah Rink: http://bigred2.athletics.cornell.edu/lynah/index.html