Engineering students on the University of Nevada, Reno’s concrete canoe team defended their title as best in the region against 12 other universities from Utah, Arizona, Idaho and Nevada at the Sparks Marina on April 15, 2023.

The team of engineering students has been working since the fall semester on building the 200-pound craft, a sleek design that is about 20 feet long.

The concrete canoe competition is the culmination of the American Society of Civil Engineers Intermountain Southwest Student Symposium, hosted by the University of Nevada, Reno, April 13-15 and held at both the University and the Sparks Marina. The teams arrived in Reno Wednesday, with their canoes in tow, ahead of the events that begin Thursday.

The concrete canoe race is just one aspect of the symposium, which ISWS includes multiple competitions, also includes the Steel Bridge Competition and the Timber Strong Competition, in which students design and build steel bridges and two-story wood light-framed buildings. The event is open to the public; a schedule is available on the ASCE ISWS website.

The Timber Strong Competition runs from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. April 13 in the Lawlor Events Center and the Steel Bridge Competition is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 14, also in the Lawlor Events Center. Concrete canoes built by all competing teams will be on display from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. April 13 at the Gateway Plaza in front of the Joe Crowley Student Union. The April 15 canoe competition at the Sparks Marina runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Hosting the Intermountain Symposium is seen as a significant accomplishment after the University’s ASCE chapter struggled during the COVID pandemic.

“Zach Flowers and Karlie Del Santo have put in so much time to make this conference a success and I am so proud of all their hard work,” University Lecturer Kelly Keselica, the team’s faculty advisor, said. “We are thrilled to host this conference. Our student chapter struggled immensely during COVID and most of our members graduated. This competition has transformed the club, reigniting excitement for these engineering competitions.”

After winning last year’s ISWS regional competition in Las Vegas, and then placing seventh in the national competition in June 2022, the team is more than ready for this year’s challenge.

“(We’re) excited for this year’s competition; we have been working really hard on making sure we are prepared,” project managers Lucas Pritchett and Tanner Mcilree said. “The fact that we are hosting the competition this year has only encouraged us to go above and beyond. We’re confident in this year’s team.”

The College of Engineering has been participating in the Concrete Canoe Competition since 2005 and has won the national competition twice, taken second place twice and third place twice.

After the two-year disruption in the competition in 2020 and 2021, the team has been rejuvenated and after winning the regional competition last year and going on to the National Concrete Canoe Competition where they took seventh place out of about 25 teams from around the country.

Each year some 200 university teams attempt to qualify for the national competition by placing first in one of the 18 conference competitions held throughout the United States during the spring. About 21 teams will compete this year in the national competition.

The Concrete Canoe competition consists of designing and constructing a canoe entirely of concrete and competing against other schools in four categories: paddling, final product, design paper and oral presentation.

The University’s Concrete Canoe club is a civil engineering-based club open to all fields of engineering. The group spends most of the academic year planning, designing, and working together to create a working canoe out of concrete.

“The faculty and staff in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering are extremely proud of the many accomplishments our students have achieved, particularly their leadership in hosting the Intermountain Southwest ASCE Student Symposium this April,” Civil & Environmental Engineering Associate Professor Eric Marchand said. “Our talented students have been preparing to compete in many of the student competitions and we are looking forward to an exciting, fun-filled few days as students from nearby institutions converge in Reno. It is truly remarkable to witness the ingenuity, creativity and dedication that is displayed by the various ASCE student chapters and I am sure this event will be a great success.”

The University of Nevada, Reno came out on top of the overall competition with Utah State taking second place and Brigham Young University rounding out in third.