UE Civil Engineers Sink Area's Top Engineering Schools
Published: April 05, 2009
The University of Evansville student chapter of the American Society of
Civil Engineers earned the title of Giant Killers yesterday, knocking
off perennial concrete canoe champion the University of
Wisconsin-Madison at this year's ASCE Great Lakes Regional Competition
in South Bend, Indiana.
At an awards banquet last night,
the University of Evansville's civil engineers were named overall
conference champions, making them the first team to knock off the larger
and better-funded Wisconsin-Madison in more than five years. The overall
championship signals a team's achievement in every event at the
competition, including the steel bridge competition, the technical paper
competition, the concrete golf ball competition, and - of course - the
concrete canoe competition.
In all, there are 16 civil
engineering programs in the Great Lakes Conference, hailing from
Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.
"I can't even begin to
say how excited and proud I am that our students have come up to South
Bend and accomplished this," said Mark Valenzuela, associate professor
of civil engineering and the advisor to the concrete canoe team. "This
is a competition where we do battle with some of the big names in
engineering - Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin-Madison - and we always hold
our own with them. But to walk away, after facing all of those teams, as
the overall conference champion is an incredible testament to our
students, our faculty, and the quality of the engineering program at the
University of Evansville."
Last night's awards
ceremony started off well for UE, when senior Kyle Shatto's paper on
Sustainability and Civil Engineering took the top prize in the technical
paper and presentation category. Then, in the concrete golf competition,
the UE team of Nick Stafford, Eric Wenz, RK Seitzinger, and Ryan Farnum
(all civil engineering juniors) won second place. UE students also
competed in a Mystery Design competition (Kyle Shatto, Jennifer
Dieterlen, Nick Stafford, and Justin Ramirez) as well as in the steel
bridge competition (constructed by Matt Chenault-- team captain, Tim
Catron, RK Seitzinger, Ryan Farnum, and Nick Black and advised by Dr.
James Allen).
What followed, though, shocked even the
UE team. After Wisconsin-Madison dominated the concrete canoe paddling
awards, Notre Dame announced the final product winners, judged to be the
canoe that had the best aesthetics and durability. Third place went to
Valparaiso, second place went to University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and
first place went not to the perennial favorites, Wisconsin-Madison, but
to the University of Evansville, with their canoe, Sasuke, and its
lustrous black finish and decorative inlays made of concrete. There was
an audible gasp among the 400 students in attendance and a loud cheer
from the UE section.
Finally, the top three overall
concrete canoe teams - based not only on the races and final product but
also on the academic merits of their design report and oral presentation
- were announced. Third place went to Marquette University. Second
place went to University of Wisconsin-Madison. Another audible gasp.
First place to the University of Evansville. Another loud cheer from
the UE section and then a standing ovation from students from all 16
schools.
But in a testament to what a small but dedicated
civil engineering program can accomplish, the best was saved for last.
Overall conference champions were announced. Third place went to Bradley
University. Second place went to Madison-Wisconsin. And the night was
completed when the University of Evansville was named the overall
conference champions! And another standing ovation.
For
the past 14 years, Wisconsin-Madison has dominated the Great Lakes
Student Regional Conference, composed of 16 civil engineering programs
from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana, by winning the right to represent
the Great Lakes Region at the national concrete canoe competition. And
for the past 5 years in a row they have been named regional conference
champions for their overall performance in such events as the steel
bridge competition, the technical paper competition, and the concrete
canoe competition. From 2003 to 2005, they were crowned national
champions in concrete canoe and in 2007 they won the international
concrete canoe champions.
The Great Lakes Regional Conference is composed of the following
schools: UE, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Purdue University, USI,
Rose-Hulman, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Valparaiso,
Bradley, Marquette, University of Illinois-Chicago, Illinois Institute
of Technology, Trine University, University of Notre Dame,
Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
UE has been
to nationals only twice before, in 2005 and 2006, by special invitation,
but never before by winning the regional competition outright. The
national concrete competition will be held from June 11th through the
13th hosted by the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa. This is the 22nd
national concrete canoe competition. The University of Evansville has
been in competition only since 2001 and the Sasuke is their 9th canoe.
Last year the University of Evansville student chapter of ASCE hosted
the regional conference.
