NC State’s student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers journeyed down South to participate in the 2023 ASCE Carolinas Student Symposium at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 13-15. Twenty-one CCEE students attended the conference and competed against other ASCE student chapters from the Carolinas in five challenges, bringing back several prizes.

In the Lightest Bridge Competition, teams were challenged to design and construct the lightest possible bridge that could support a load of 200 pounds. The NC State team, which included Anne Abraham, Anusha Dasanayaka, Ellie Hannum, Gabi Gomez, David Joynes, and Riley Schindler, built a 9-pound bridge that won second place. 

The Daniel W. Mead Paper Competition posed the challenge of writing and presenting an essay that explained how an engineer balances regulations and ethics. Erica Mahoney, who serves as vice president of the NC State chapter, took home third place.

In the Geotechnical Competition, teams were presented with a mystery challenge and had to use their knowledge of geotechnical concepts and principles to solve an engineering problem. The NC State team, including Zoe Smith, Ellie Reimer, Tana Harris, and David Joynes, created a foundation for a 1 million-gallon water tank with calculations and a presentation based on given soil profiles and snagged second place.

As part of the Quiz Bowl competition, team members Jordan Key, Tyler Knickrehm, Adam McLaine, and Alec Spano competed against the other chapter to answer a set of Fundamentals of Engineering-type questions that covered a broad range of subjects including  statics, dynamics, transportation and construction. The team won first place with 105 points. 

The NC State chapter took home first place in the Steel Bridge Competition, where teams were challenged to construct a prefabricated steel bridge in under 45 minutes with construction constraints such as a river that cannot be crossed, no members or tools touching the floor, and only six builders. Bridges were also load-tested, weighed, and judged on aesthetics.

The NC State chapter took home first place and will go on to compete at the 2023 Student Steel Bridge Competition National Finals on June 2-3, at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, California.

The team included Alec Spano, Anthony Rurka, Eric Skinner, Hunter Bowman, Jada Williams, Jordan Key, Ceci Sanchez, Nick Angel, Alli Wray, and Adam McLaine. Spano, Rurka, Skinner, Key, Sanchez, and Angel served as the builders.

“Words cannot describe how proud I am of our team, and it has been an absolute pleasure being a part of the growth of this incredible chapter since our relaunch last year,” said Sanchez, who serves as the chapter’s president.