CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS HOST REGIONAL CONFERENCE, CONCRETE CANOE RACES

Concrete canoe races in Lucky Peak Reservoir, a treasure hunt using surveying equipment, bowling with concrete bowling balls. Those are just some of the engineering competitions that will take place April 25-27 when, for the first time ever, Boise State University civil engineering students host the Pacific Northwest regional conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

About 400 students from 16 Northwest colleges and universities will gather in Boise to test their engineering skills, not to mention their swimming skills if their concrete canoes falter on their maiden voyages. The students will also conduct a meeting of student ASCE chapters, host a private awards banquet and present technical papers on the topic “Engineering Ethics in Disaster Recovery.”

Community members are welcome as spectators at the competitions. This is a good opportunity to expose elementary through high school students to the creative aspects of engineering. Events that will be of most interest to spectators are:

April 25

Tug of war and bowling with concrete balls, 6-8 p.m. in the high bay of the Harry W. Morrison Civil Engineering Building.

April 26

Steel bridge competition, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. in the high bay of the Harry W. Morrison Civil Engineering Building.

Surveying “treasure hunt” competition, 9 a.m.-noon. Meet in the high bay.

Environmental competition, 2-4 p.m. Meet in the high bay. In this competition, students will use common items such as paper towels, a sponge, cardboard, pop bottles and other common household items to design a small-scale treatment plant to purify contaminated water.

April 27

Concrete canoe races, 9 a.m.-noon at Lucky Peak Reservoir, Spring Shores Marina.

Participating colleges and universities will be University of Alaska-Anchorage, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Gonzaga University, University of Idaho, Boise State, Idaho State University, University of British Columbia, Montana State University-Bozeman, Oregon Institute of Technology, Oregon State University, University of Portland, Portland State University, St. Martin’s College, Carroll College, Montana Tech, University of Washington and Washington State University.

For a complete schedule of events, visit the Web site for the Boise State student chapter of the ASCE at http:coen.boisestate.edu/asce/

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Meghann Martin

Boise State ASCE

860-1327

Jeremy Brown

Boise State ASCE

880-3463

Pat Pyke

communications and marketing

426-1987

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