News

Cal Poly Dominates Regional Civil Engineering Contest Receives Regional Governors Award

June 30, 2008

SAN LUIS OBISPO A perennial winner at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Pacific Southwest Regional Conference, Cal Poly again dominated the contest with first place wins in six events, including Concrete Canoe. Cal Poly took first place overall at the conference for the eleventh time out of the past 12 years.

The Pacific Southwest Regional Conference held at CSU Northridge pitted 84 Cal Poly civil engineering students against teams from Southern California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, and Japan.

The conference was filled with many exciting moments, including many close canoe races and the catastrophic failure of our steel bridge, said Sheila Sideh, executive vice president of the Cal Poly Society of Civil Engineers.

A highlight event, the Concrete Canoe competition involves design, presentation, and racing. The Cal Poly team took first in the Mens Sprint, first in Mens Slalom/Endurance, first in Oral Presentation and first in Final Product. They came in second for Design Paper, Womens Sprint, Womens Slalom/Endurance, and Co-ed Sprint. Cal Polys overall win ensured a spot in the national competition held next month in Montreal, Canada. Last year, Cal Poly placed fifth at the nationals.

In other conference events, Cal Poly placed first in Surveying, Quiz Bowl, Concrete Frisbee, Wiffle Ball, and Tug of War.

Cal Polys strong showing at the Southwest Regional Conference reflects the efforts of a large, active club. In fact the group was recently recognized as the regions most outstanding club in and received the ASCE Region 9 Governors Award. The award is based on activities recorded inthe Student Chapter's 2007 annual report, written by Cal Polys SCE Recording Officer, Kyle Marshall.

In addition to the Governors Award, this year Cal Poly SCE was one of the six Robert Ridgway Award Finalists, a distinction earned by less than three percent of all ASCE student chapters nationwide.