Over this past spring semester, the ASCE student chapter at LSU actively prepared for and participated in the concrete canoe and steel bridge competitions.  Both teams would like to thank all of the sponsors for their support and generous contributions, including the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Baton Rouge Branch of the ASCE.

LSU steel bridge team placed 5th in display while receiving 40th overall.  Though they did not place as high as they may have hoped, the national competition was a great learning opportunity for the young aspiring engineers. Team captain Brad Adams said, “It was tough for us to compete with the more experienced teams, but we will take what we learned this year to improve and be a stronger competitor next year.” Most of the team will be returning to compete again next year, eager to put the knowledge they gained to use.  The team would like to thank all of the sponsors for their support and generous contributions, including the LSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Baton Rouge Branch of the ASCE. The team would like to thank the following sponsors:

SJB Group   -  ABMB Engineers, Inc.  -  CDM  -  CSRS, Inc.  -  Engensus, LLC

Evans-Graves, Inc.  -  Fabricated Steel Products  -  Michael Baker Jr., Inc.  -  Sigma Consulting Group  -  URS  -  CH2M-Hill  -  Structural Preservation Systems  -  Pelican Energy Consultants  -  Manson Construction  -  Picciola & Associates  -  FLUOR 

This year's concrete canoe team met the challenge of creating a strong, lightweight concrete mix. The team hopes, pending the 2010 rule changes, to keep this mix as a base for next year's canoe. Using this mix design, the team will focus attention on building a more aesthetically pleasing canoe. This will include the use of a female mold as opposed to the male mold that was used this year. The team may also consider using inlaid designs and stained concrete.  Next semester, the concrete canoe team will have the unique challenge of finding a new place on campus to build the canoe, since the old annex will be undergoing renovations for the foreseeable future.

This fall, ASCE student chapter of LSU will be holding meetings at 6:30 pm in the Germano Center. The dates for the meetings include September 3rd, September 17th, October 8th, October 22nd, November 5th, November 19th, and December 4th (End of semester party).  At each meeting an engineering firm is invited to speak to the student chapter.  One meeting during the fall semester is always reserved for our Annual ASCE at LSU career fair.  This year’s career fair will be held on November 5th. The other main event that the chapter will be hosting this semester is to have members volunteer to help build a home with Habitat for Humanity on September 26th.   We are looking forward to the upcoming semester!