Concrete Canoe and Surveying Contest winners advance to compete in society-wide contest in June at Louisiana Tech University

Reston, Va. — The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2022 Indiana-Kentucky Student Symposium took place at Trine University April 7–9, 2022. At the event, around 220 civil engineering students from 11 universities in Indiana and Kentucky put their academic and project management knowledge to the test participating in annual society-wide competitions including the ASCE Concrete Canoe, ASCE Sustainable Solutions Competition — Tiny House Challenge and ASCE/UESI (Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute) Surveying Competition. 

The Western Kentucky University team won the Concrete Canoe Competition and the Trine University team won the Sustainable Solutions Competition. The Purdue University Northwest team placed first in the UESI Surveying Competition, however because they did not pass the eligibility requirements the second place winner, Western Kentucky University advances to the finals. These teams have qualified to compete at the 35th Annual ASCE Society-wide Competitions June 3–5 at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA. 

The Concrete Canoe competition requires students to collaborate as teams and use engineering skills to design and construct a seaworthy canoe made entirely of concrete. Each team must compete in multiple categories: Technical Proposal, Technical Presentation, Enhanced Focus Area, Final Product, and several racing events, for a chance to move on to the finals where the winner will compete against 23 other teams from schools around the globe.

The ASCE Sustainable Solutions Competition challenges students to develop a stronger understanding of sustainability and learn to incorporate sustainable solutions into everyday problems that engineers incur. Students are encouraged to be creative in their solutions and use all resources available. This year, students delve into a tiny-home community challenge to address homelessness.

The ASCE UESI Surveying Competition’s educational and professional goals include a recognition of the importance of basic surveying principles to all civil engineering projects. Students are required to use standard field and office equipment and procedures to solve common problems encountered in industry. A clear understanding of and ability to apply basic surveying principles will assist the graduate civil engineer in communicating and working with the surveying professionals on the job site and during the design process.

“Congratulations to all the winners of the ASCE Indiana-Kentucky Student Symposia competitions,” said Dennis D. Truax, President of ASCE. “Students put their civil engineering knowledge on full display throughout the competitions, exhibiting creative problem-solving skills and ability to collaborate with others — each of which being a pillar of success in our profession. The Society is proud to recognize the work these students have put in throughout the school year and wish them luck at the Society-wide Competition in June. However, regardless where they finished in the competitions, we applaud each student and each program that participated in this year’s symposia and recognize the hard work all the students have put in their projects during the school year.”

In its 35th year, the ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition, the student symposium’s flagship event, challenges civil engineering students to apply the engineering principles learned in the classroom to a real-world task, while utilizing project management and team building skills. The Concrete Canoe program consists of both athletic and academic events. The competition is designed to test the knowledge, creativity and stamina of each team. Over the course of the school year, teams plan, research, and construct a canoe out of concrete. The competition evaluates teams on design and construction, a technical proposal, an enhanced focus area, a formal business presentation, and five different races—men’s and women’s slalom races, men’s and women’s sprint races and a co-ed sprint race.

The Society-wide Concrete Canoe Competition+ is organized by ASCE and hosted annually by a university student chapter, thanks in part to funds provided by the ASCE Foundation. 

The following schools were represented at the symposium: 

  • Purdue University Fort Wayne
  • Purdue University Northwest
  • Purdue University West Lafayette
  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Tech
  • Trine University
  • University of Evansville
  • University of Kentucky
  • University of Louisville
  • University of Notre Dame
  • University of Southern Indiana
  • Western Kentucky University

About the American Society of Civil Engineers

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.