Competition highlights from Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe teams

The University of Michigan participated in the ASCE-sponsored 2019 North Central Student Conference at the University of Michigan last weekend, April 12-14, which included the Steel Bridge Competition, Concrete Canoe Competition, and Technical Paper Competition.

The Steel Bridge Team’s goal is to design, fabricate, and construct a 20 foot steel bridge to compete against other colleges in the Regional and National Student Steel Bridge Competitions. The Steel Bridge team, despite having their best construction run of the year, was disqualified in the competition because one of their bolts sheared during construction, and the team was unable to fix it. The team worked hard all throughout the academic year. The team’s main highlight of the year came when they passed their load test on the first try. This was the third year in a row the team accomplished this feat.

The Concrete Canoe team works together to design, fabricate, and race a canoe made from concrete as part of the annual ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition. The competition is comprised of four main components: a design paper, a technical presentation, racing, and final product judging. Unfortunately due to poor weather, the races were cancelled this year, so the only three categories were judged. The team placed second overall with a first place finish in final product, a second place finish in design paper, and a third place finish in the technical presentation. Even though they did not qualify for the national competition, the team said the competition was the highlight of their year and they look forward to next year heading back to the national competition.

Lastly, the University of Michigan placed first in the Student Ethics Paper Competition. We are proud to announce that Ms. Madison Carlson placed first in the competition. Congratulations to Madison and all of our student competitors!