Hello CEE community,

You are invited to attend the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Pacific Northwest (PNW) Regional Student Symposium, taking place this Friday April 4th on PSU Campus!

Co-hosted by Portland State University and University of Portland, the ASCE PNW Student Symposium is one of 22 ASCE regional student symposia held annually as an opportunity for student chapters to showcase their skills and achievements by designing, building, and/or competing in various civil engineering activities. This year, nearly 300 students from 19 universities across the PNW will compete, partake in professional and personal development opportunities, and celebrate civil engineering and the ASCE community!

Attendance is free for spectators - this is an amazing opportunity for students, faculty, industry leaders, and other civil engineering community members to cheer on PSU and make important connections!

An overview schedule and detailed schedule are attached below; the majority of activities will take place Friday April 4th on the South Park Blocks and Viking Pavilion, including:

Concrete Canoe

This competition challenges students teams to design, construct, and race a concrete canoe, using various mixtures and design techniques. The "Swamp Test" will take place in the Park Blocks on Friday April 4th, and successful canoes will race on Blue Lake on Saturday April 5th!

Steel Bridge

This competition challenges students to develop a concept for a scale-model steel bridge to span approximately 20 feet and to carry 2,500 pounds! The team must determine how to fabricate their bridge to meet requiremesnts and be assembled efficiently in a timed setting at the competition, and are judged based on load-test, weight, aesthetics, and other factors.

Sustainable Solutions

Sustainable Solutions Competition challenges students to develop a stronger understanding of sustainability and learn to incorporate sustainable solutions into everyday problems that engineers incur. This year's topic centers on changes in commercial workplace occupancy following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Surveying

Students will be required to use standard field and office equipment and procedures to solve common surveying problems encountered in industry, including a topographic mapping project with a presentation, topo map display at the symposium, and field tasks.

Timber Strong Build - new this year!

ASCE has partnered with the American Wood Council (AWC), APA – Engineered Wood Association (APA), and Simpson Strong-Tie (SST) to pilot the Timber-Strong Design Build℠ (TSDB℠) Competition. The competition seeks student teams to design and build an artistically creative 2-story wood light-framed building that is sustainable, aesthetically pleasing and structurally durable.

Environmental / Water Filter

This is a regional competition that tasks students with designing a cheap, simple, effective filter to improve water quality after a significant earthquake in the area. The competition required a technical report, poster session, and construction/demonstration of the filter.

Student Symposium Paper / Daniel W. Mead Prize

The Symposium Paper Competition emphasizes the importance of being able to write and present a paper as essential communication skills for all engineers and often necessary for advancement in your career. This year's paper topic asks, "Considering ethics, what role do civil engineers play in the prevention and response to an infrastructure disaster?"

We hope to see you there - and wishing the best of luck to our ASCE PSU student teams!

Best,
CEE Department

The CEE Department office is open Monday-Thursday from 9am-5pm, with remote assistance available on Fridays. Please email ceedept@pdx.edu for the fastest response, as this inbox is monitored by all staff.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Portland State University

Engineering Building (EB), Suite 200
503.725.4282
ceedept@pdx.edu
www.pdx.edu/cee