Competitions

2023 Competitions at Kansas State University

2023 ASCE Society-wide Competition Rules

ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition

Since the early 1970s, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapters have competed to be the best at designing, constructing, and racing concrete canoes. During that time, canoe mixtures and designs have varied, but the long-established tradition of teamwork, camaraderie, and spirited competition has been constant. Each year, teams, their associates, judges, and other participants build upon this tradition. This year, teams answered a call for Technical Proposals and Enhanced Focus Area Reports and are competing to be the winning bid on a prototype standardized canoe design for future concrete canoe competitions. Learn more about the competition.

Student Steel Bridge Competition

ASCE and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) are partnering to offer the Student Steel Bridge Competition (SSBC) at ASCE Student Symposia.

The Student Steel Bridge Competition challenges students to extend their classroom knowledge to a practical and hands-on steel-design project that grows their interpersonal and professional skills, encourages innovation, and fosters impactful relationships between students and industry professionals.

Each student team develops a concept for a scale-model steel bridge to span approximately 20 feet and to carry 2,500 pounds according to the competition rules. The team must determine how to fabricate their bridge and then plan for an efficient assembly under timed construction conditions at the competition. Bridges are also load-tested, weighed, and judged on aesthetics.

Student Steel Bridge Team Participation Form - MUST be filled out by all teams!

ASCE UESI Surveying Competition

The ASCE UESI Surveying Competition’s educational and professional goals include a recognition of the importance of basic surveying principles to all civil engineering projects. Students will be required to use standard field and office equipment and procedures to solve common problems encountered in industry. A clear understanding of and ability to apply basic surveying principles will assist the graduate civil engineer in communicating and working with the surveying professionals on the job site and during the design process. Learn more about the competition.

ASCE Sustainable Solutions Competition

The ASCE Sustainable Solutions Competition challenges students to develop a stronger understanding of sustainability and learn to incorporate sustainable solutions into everyday problems that engineers incur. Students are encouraged to be creative in their solutions and use all resources available. Learn more about the competition.

2023 Topic

The fictional City of ASCE wants to revitalize one downtown block of Engineer Street. The City hopes to turn the underutilized area into a gathering place for the community and reimagine the surrounding spaces to create a cohesive and walkable corridor.

ASCE Innovation Contest

The mission of the 2023 ASCE Innovation Contest is to develop an innovation that addresses one of the following three ASCE Report Card topics: Drinking Water, Energy, and Roads. There is also a direct connection to the UN Sustainability Goals. Participating teams will develop and pitch their innovation to the judges and at a minimum provide proof-of-concept for its feasibility and innovative potential. The closer your innovation is to having a proof of concept and a business plan, the more persuasive the result.

ASCE Construction Institute Student Symposium Competition – Pilot Competition

The Construction Institute Student Symposium Competition tasks participating students with several real work construction engineering challenges that teams will be asked to provide written or diagrammatic responses to. Sample projects will entertain all sectors of civil engineering, while the individual challenges will be related to: Traffic Control / Site Logistics, QA/QC, Safety, Public Outreach, Environment, Risk Management, and other concerns that project managers and engineers plan for. Each student team shall act as a construction engineering firm, and these responses shall be directed and delivered professionally, similarly to how a real company would address an owner requesting additional information from a firm during the pre-construction phase of a job.

The entirety of this competition for 2023 will take place at the symposia; therefore there will be no competition documents passed out prior to the symposium weekend. Students should plan to dedicate one to two hours at their spring symposia if planning to participate. The Construction Institute Student Symposium Competition will require students to think outside the box, work effectively in teams, and manage their time and resources to persuade the owner (competition judges) that they are the most deserving of the job!

ASCE 3-D Printing Competition – Pilot Competition

The 3D Printing Competition: Bridging the Future promotes the application of 3D printing technology in the field of civil engineering. Students are challenged to design an aesthetically-pleasing, strong, and stiff 3D printed bridge that will take the least amount of assembly time and meets the geometric requirements.

ASCE Student Symposium Paper Competition (MANDATORY)

The ASCE Student 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.

Good faith participation in the ASCE Student Symposium Paper Competition, including submission and presentation by at least one (1) member of the ASCE Student Chapter, is a requirement to advance to an ASCE Society-wide Competition Finals. Competitions requiring this include Concrete Canoe, Student Steel Bridge, UESI Surveying, Innovation Contest, and Sustainable Solutions.

No other Society-wide competition report or paper may serve as a submission for the ASCE Student Symposium Paper Competition.

Student Symposium Paper Competition topic, due date and submission location will be released by the 2023 host this fall in Mailer 2.