HOUSTON, TX — The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2022 Region 6 Student Symposium recently took place at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. At the event, nearly 500 civil engineering students from 25 universities in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico put their academic and project management knowledge to the test participating in annual society-wide competitions including the ASCE Concrete Canoe and ASCE/UESI (Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute) Surveying Competition, ASCE Sustainable Solutions Competition - Tiny House Challenge, ASCE Innovation Contest, and the AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction)/ASCE Student Bridge Competition. Students also participated in an ASCE-sponsored pilot competition, the ASCE Timber Strong Design-BuildSM Competition.

The Texas A&M team won the Concrete Canoe Competition, the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico team won the ASCE Sustainable Solutions Competition, and the ASCE Innovation Contest, and New Mexico State University team won the UESI Surveying Competition. LeTourneau University was named the winner of the Timber Strong Design-Build SM Competition. The Concrete Canoe, Sustainable Solutions, and Surveying winning teams have qualified to compete at the 35th Annual ASCE Society-wide Competitions from June 3-5 at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. The Universidad Autonoma de Mexico team won the AISC/ASCE Student Bridge Competition.

The ASCE 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 Region 6 ASCE Student Symposia competitions,” said Dennis D. Truax, President of ASCE. “Through a commitment to innovative solutions, teamwork, and extensive knowledge through their academic programs, these impressive students reached solutions to a complex challenge. The society is proud to recognize their work 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.”

The following schools were represented at the symposium:

• Angelo State University
• Lamar University
• LeTourneau University
• New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
• New Mexico State University
• Oklahoma State University
• Rice University
• Tarleton State University
• Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Texas A&M University
• Texas A&M University-Kingsville
• Texas Tech University
• The University of Oklahoma
• The University of Texas at Arlington
• The University of Texas at Austin
• The University of Texas at El Paso
• The University of Texas at San Antonio
• The University of Texas at Tyler
• The University of Texas at Tyler – Houston Engineering Center
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico
• Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
• Universidad Panamericana
• University of Houston
• West Texas A&M University