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Civil Engineering Department Hosts Concrete Canoe Contest

April 9, 2015

The UNM Department of Civil Engineering hosts the 2015 Rocky Mountain Regional Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers April 9-11.

The meeting brings together 14 universities from New Mexico, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah and Colorado. About 350 students are expected to attend.

Among the events is a concrete canoe contest, in which student teams from the universities in attendance will design, build and race canoes constructed from concrete. The racing takes place Saturday, April 11 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Cochiti Lake in Sandoval County.

In addition to the canoe racing, other competitions include steel bridge design, as well as various paper and chapter presentations. There will also be tours of the Centennial Engineering Center. The awards for the competitions will be presented April 11 from 6-9 p.m. at Embassy Suites.

Mahmoud Taha, professor and chair of the Department of Civil Engineering, said that this conference is significant because each of the 14 universities take turns hosting the conference, so that means it will be another 14 years before the conference is held at UNM.

“This is a great opportunity for visibility for UNM and the Department of Civil Engineering,” Taha said. “It gives students and faculty from other universities, as well as our many corporate partners, a chance to see the research and facilities that the department has to offer.”

Taha said this could lead to greater research and industry collaboration.

A complete schedule of events for the conference can be found at here.