The UTEP College of Engineering will host the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) 4th annual Student Symposium and the 2nd annual combined competitions for steel bridge and concrete canoe. These competitions will help students from ASCE’s student chapters in the Texas-Mexico region develop practical application of engineering principles and project management skills for their future careers. They will take place at the El Paso Convention Center on March 2-3, and the canoe race will be at Ascarate Lake on March 4.
A forum designed to increase awareness of the region’s water issues titled “Let’s Talk About Water” will take place on March 3 in Hall A of the El Paso Convention Center. A screening of the film “Last Call at the Oasis” will start at 2 p.m., followed by a panel discussion at 3:30 p.m. The discussion will feature Samuel Sandoval Solis, Ph.D., from the University of California, Davis; Michele Simmons, Ph.D., from Miami University; and Josiah Heyman, Ph.D., from UTEP. A reception will follow the panel discussion. This event is free and open to the public.
“The symposium is a unique gathering where over 400 students and professional civil engineers from Texas, New Mexico and Mexico can share knowledge, engage in friendly competitions and foster relationships that last for decades,” said ASCE Texas Section President Craig B. Thompson.
The theme for the 2017 Student Symposium is “Building Bridges/Trascendiendo Fronteras.” Students from the ASCE Texas-Mexico Student Conference will participate and also will have the opportunity to attend soft skill seminars intended to help them transition from the classroom to the workplace.
Concrete canoe teams are judged based on four categories: technical design report, oral design presentation, canoe final product, and racing. Judging of the first three categories will be held on Thursday, March 2. The races will be Saturday, March 4 at Ascarate Lake. The races are free and open to the public. The Texas-Mexico regional winner will advance to the 2017 ASCE national competition at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, June 17-19.
The steel bridge competition, which takes place March 3, provides civil engineering students with comprehensive project experience that involves designing and building their own one-tenth scale steel bridge. The students are required to create their own designs, fabrication, and testing with client specifications. The regional winner will advance to the ASCE/AISC national competition held at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, May 26 and 27, 2017.