Concrete Canoe: Club to enter the ASCE competition
The Roundup
Issue Date 3/9/09
By: Kristina Medley
The NMSU Canoe Club is preparing to enter their concrete canoe, which the club constructed earlier this year, in the American Society of Civil Engineers Regional Competition in April.
More than 25 civil engineering and civil engineering technology students helped construct the 20-ft. canoe the club has dubbed "Resurrection."
"Were doing a 'Day of the Dead' design, and bringing back all our old canoe themes," said Diego Benevidez, club member and graduate adviser.
Benevidez said the club placed second in the concrete canoe competition last year, and this year's canoe design signifies the team's return to claim first prize.
Benavidez said at the ASCE competition, which will be held on April 3 at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, each concrete canoe team must submit a project report, conduct a presentation, sink their canoe to show it's lighter than water and can float back to the surface, and finally race the canoe. Based upon how well each portion goes determines the overall winner.
Because of NMSU's reputation of having an outstanding engineering department, "NMSU is expected by all the other competing schools to make a great canoe," Benavidez said.
Benavidez said the ASCE competition is fun because some of the canoes don't make it through the races and sink mid-paddle.
"I have faith in my team and I think we're going to do good," said Bernadette Gendone, a first-time club member and civil engineering student.
"The club gives civil engineer students a chance to get real world experience, because not only do they build the canoe, but they have to plan everything from what materials will be needed to budget expenses," said club captain Adrian Delgadillo.
Delgadillo said because a lot of the club members are freshmen, the project offers them their first real problem. The dedication and camaraderie that comes with it helps them stick it out through the engineering program.
"Civil engineering students and civil engineering technology students are very dedicated," Delgadillo said. So much so, that the team holds paddling practices to prepare them for the upcoming race.
Also, according to Benavidez, the club will sink the canoe after 28 days to make sure it will hold up against the competition.
It's also Nancy Lozano's first year with the club and she said out of the three clubs she's joined this year, it's by far the most exciting.
"At first I didn't know that much about canoes or concrete, but since then I've actually learned a lot," Lozano said.
The club's adviser and civil engineering professor Kenny Stevens said, "Students that come back 10 years or so after they graduate don't ask about their old chemistry class. They ask about the canoe club and what it's doing this year."
The concrete canoe competition is just one portion of the events at ASCE regional competition. Last year, NMSU took first place overall. NMSU is part of the Rocky Mountain Conference which is made up of schools from New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and others.