Engineering Conference scheduled at Cal State

Fullerton News Tribune
March 24, 2005

Concrete canoes, steel bridges, and seismic designs will be on the drawing boards when 600 university students from throughout the West compete in a series of engineering contests at Cal State Fullerton March 31 through April 2.

Campus offices and classrooms will be closed March 31 in observance of the Cesar Chavez Holiday.

The CSF student chapter of the American Society for Civil engineers will host the conference at various locations on campus.

Student teams will design, build and race a four-person canoe constructed of concrete. The canoes will be on display from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 31 near the university's main entrance at the intersection of Nutwood and Commonwealth avenues.

Canoe races are set from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. April 2 at Bonelli Park in San Dimas. Winners will compete in June at the 2005 National Concrete Canoe Competition at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Teams will also design, fabricate and construct steel bridges that will be judged on stiffness, lightness, speed of construction, aesthetics, efficiency and economy. They also will eb displayed from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 31 at the university's main entrance.

Students will also design and build scale models of high-rise buildings able to withstand the forces of a large-scale earthquake. Each structure will be tested April 1 in a seismic simulator, or "shake table," in the CSF Civil Engineering Lab, Room 10 of the Engineering Building.

Tests will be conducted from 9 - 11:30 a.m.

Other activities include concrete Frisbee, concrete bowling and tug-of-war.