UB places second overall in 2015 ASCE Upstate New York Regional Conference
Steel bridge team advances to nationals
Members of the UB ASCE Student Chapter with this year's concrete canoe, "Calcestruzzo."
by Todd Snyder and Sarah D'Iorio
Published May 18, 2015 This content is archived.
Members of the University at Buffalo’s American Society of Civil Engineers (UB ASCE) Student Chapter earned second place overall in the 2015 ASCE Upstate New York Regional Student Conference hosted at the United States Military Academy at West Point on April 16-18.
Forty-one civil and environmental engineering students from UB traveled to the conference to participate in this year’s steel bridge competition, concrete canoe competition, and other professional/technical presentations and activities.
On Thursday, civil engineering undergraduate student Daniel Smith represented UB with his Mead Paper Presentation, during which he discussed ethics of construction safety. The concrete canoe and steel bridge teams also delivered oral presentations.
UB earned second place overall in the steel bridge competition on Friday. The steel bridge team came in second place in lightness, first place in stiffness, second place in structural efficiency, third place in construction speed, and third place in construction economy. Based on their finish, the team will be traveling to Kansas City to compete in the National Student Steel Bridge Competition May 22-23, 2015.
On Saturday, the concrete canoe races were held. UB placed second in the women’s sprint, second in men’s sprint, second in co-ed sprint, second in oral presentation, and third in final product. The team received a third place finish overall.
UB students also took first place in this year’s conference mystery event—a scavenger hunt in which participants were required to locate and photograph important people and historic locations on the West Point campus.
Based on participation in the conference and the results of the bridge, canoe, mystery, and Mead Paper competitions, UB placed second for the overall conference title. In addition, UB was recognized by the host school with its Spirit Award in recognition of the students’ good sportsmanship and character.
The weekend culminated with an awards banquet overlooking the Hudson River, and closed with UB ASCE President-elect Jane Van Der Karr inviting roughly 500 attendees to the regional conference to be hosted by UB next spring.