Posted: Monday, May 2, 2016

Nineteen University of Evansville civil engineering students represented UE’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) at the annual Great Lakes Student Conference held recently in Chicago, Illinois. The event was hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology. Mark Valenzuela, UE professor of engineering and the concrete canoe faculty advisor, accompanied the UE students to the conference.

Over 300 students from 19 civil engineering programs in Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin attended the event. They participated in professional ethics presentations, academic competitions, and networking events. 

UE’s Aces concrete canoe team won second place at the regional level behind the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  In the overall conference competitions, UE placed fifth, ahead of such schools as Purdue, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Rose-Hulman,      University of Southern Indiana, Bradley, and Valparaiso. 

The concrete canoe team consisted of the following UE students: Erich Hopf (project manager), Manuel Jara Perez (team manager), Alexis Sorrell (team manager), Samantha Shuler (team manager), Meredith Secrest (team manager), Shannon Gates (team manager), Trent Vowell, Jacob Slick, Samuel Brinegar, and Ryan Freeman.

UE students competed in other categories at the conference including:

Surveying: UE students Stuart Watson, Donald Hubbard, and Trent Vowell determined the height of a tower on the IIT campus.

Materials: UE students John East, Hannah Kirk, and Hashem Hatahet tested a pervious concrete slab that was designed by their junior-level construction materials class to allow water to flow through the concrete to prevent ponding on streets and parking lots.

Environmental: UE students John East, Hannah Kirk, Meredith Secrest, and Ryan Freeman analyzed building data for environmental problems and design errors.

Mystery Design: UE students Abdullah Alzakari, Chukiat Kanphian, Elyse Massey, and Elizabeth Theriac took on a timed challenge of designing and constructing the tallest tower that could hold a golf-ball using common household items obtained by answering Chicago-based trivia.

Quiz Bowl: UE students John East, Hannah Kirk, and Hashem Hatahet answered technical questions based on civil engineering course-work in three elimination rounds.

Technical Paper: UE student Stuart Watson presented his paper on the ethical issues surrounding working with different design standards around the world. 

The ASCE is the oldest professional engineering organization in the United States.  Its Great Lakes Conference comprises the following schools: University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Marquette University, Bradley University, University of Illinois-Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University at West Lafayette, Purdue University-Calumet, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, Indiana State University, University of Southern Indiana,  Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, University of Notre Dame, Trine University, Valparaiso University, and UE. 

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