American Society of Civil Engineers
Student Chapter Annual Competition*
Ohio Valley Region
2013
Surveying Competition at Cleveland Ohio
Cleveland State University Hosting
WKU Survey team members:
Dylan Jones
Steve Jones
Michael Simpson
*http://www.asce.org/students/
WKU 2013 surveying team members (l to r): Dylan Jones, Steve Jones, and Michael Simpson
WKU performing the leveling loop
University of Akron surveying team
Various types of surveying equipment used – some old but most is first order gear
Traverse competition area
WKU Civil Engineers win regional
conference for 2nd year; WKU Steel
Bridge team qualifies for National
Competition
For the second year in a row, WKU civil engineers are bringing home excellent results in the full range of
competitions at their regional conference. Balsa wood bridge building? First place. Environmental
Engineering? Second place. Steel Bridge? Third place. And Concrete Canoe? Third place as well. With
those high results, as well as excellent participation in all the events — concrete horseshoes, concrete
softball bat, technical presentation, surveying, and AutoCAD —WKU Civil Engineering took first place
overall at the Ohio Valley Student Conference held in Cleveland Ohio April 4th – 6th. And the high finish
in the Steel Bridge qualifies WKU to participate in the national competition, to be held in Seattle, WA
31May – 01Jun.
Sophomores Raymond Van Zee of Russellville and Adam “Blake” Adams of Monticello designed and built
a model of a wooden covered bridge for a proposed nature center in the Cuyahoga Valley Recreation
Area. Then they tested its capacity … until it broke. Using only 1/8” by 1/8” balsa wood with glued
joints, their bridge carried XXXXX pounds, equivalent to YYY pounds in the real world. The WKU bridge
won the competition.
Seniors Jordan Begley and Omar Ramadan, both of Bowling Green, built a device to slow the flow and
filter the phosphates from stormwater runoff. Especially in this year of record rainfall, we all see the
effects of excess rainwater, and this competition focused on the resultant problems of damage and
pollution. Devices were judged on sustainability and were limited to general purpose items—no special
pool chemicals allowed. The WKU device, with its clever use of pill caddies to create stilling chambers,
took second place in the regional environmental engineering competition. It slowed the flow, balanced
the pH and reduced the phosphorus content of the polluted water significantly.
Led by senior Clayton Cook of Worthville, KY, the WKU Steel Bridge team designed and constructed
(multiple times) a 1:10 scale model of a bridge connecting a vibrant new downtown district with growing
suburbs across the river. In the fictitious scenario for this project , the bridge is intended to be “an
attractive signature structure … with clearance for tour boats, and [it] will cantilever over the historically
significant billiard parlor.” Right there in River City! The 17 foot long bridges must use recycled
materials and be assembled quickly, with limited access via “narrow and thinly paved urban streets”.
The model bridge was tested for weight, carrying capacity and stiffness and judged for design and
construction economy and speed. Members of the Steel Bridge Team are Jordan Begley (Bowling
Green), Josh Clemmons (Park City), Michael Doyel (Bowling Green), Yulizza Henao Barragan (Louisville),
Omar Ramadan (Bowling Green), Joshua Rodgers (Bowling Green), and Dylan Ward (Hartford). The high
score for this beautiful bridge qualifies this team for national steel bridge competition later this year in
Seattle.
Seniors Aaron Dockery of Somerset and Emily Mesker of Glasgow led the Concrete Canoe team in the
design, construction, presentation and paddling of Courageous. At 180 pounds, it is one of the lightest
canoes WKU Engineering has ever made. Team Courageous , inspired by a fellow civil engineering
student battling cancer this year, included raising cancer awareness in their team goals. Decorated with
quotes about living with cancer, the bright white hull also represented a fresh new hull design,
emphasizing speed while maintaining just enough stability to keep the engineers inside the canoe during
the energetic paddling events: endurance and sprint events for both men’s and women’s teams, plus a
co-ed sprint event. The canoe team was judged on technical presentation, their cutaway model, and
their display for the public. The 2013 canoe team also includes Josh Amos (Bowling Green), Jacob
Belwood (Somerset), Robert Boarman (Owensboro), Walker Bruns (Alpharetta GA), Elizabeth Chang de
las Cuervas (Hillview), Seth Dawson (Trenton), Ethan Epperson (Nancy), Chad Grubb (Morgantown),
Chris Heil (Winchester), Eathan Johnson (Hawesville), and Daniel Skees (Bowling Green). The engraving
of Courageous was programmed and executed by senior WKU electrical engineering student Jonathan
Marques (Prospect). The WKU Canoe team placed third in their competition.
Other events included surveying, technical paper presentations, concrete horseshoes, and a concrete
softball bat competition. Senior Aaron Daley of Louisville responded to the technical paper challenge:"Is
it Ethical to Associate Credentials With Competency?" ASCE faculty advisor Warren Campbell, declared
that junior Trevor King of Derby, IN “destroyed the competition” in concrete horseshoes, while junior
Tyler Sheffield of Dry Ridge took second place at the tee with the WKU Concrete softball bat.
Forty-seven members of the WKU Civil Engineering program traveled to Cleveland to participate in the
ASCE Ohio Valley Student Conference. All four faculty members accompanied the team, guiding and
cheering the students during the competitions with all the rigor and enthusiasm they shared during the
preparation. Professor Gallagher had even prepared the surveying team with obscured sight lines, in
preparation for the forested site of the competition.
The 16 schools that compete in the Ohio Valley Student Conference are the following:
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University of Akron
Carnegie Mellon University
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati State Technical & Community College
Cleveland State University
University of Dayton
Geneva College
University of Kentucky
University of Louisville
Ohio State University
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Ohio University
University of Pittsburgh
Point Park University
Stark State College of Technology
Western Kentucky University
Youngstown State University
WKU Engineering has been graduating great engineers for more than 10 years