ASCE Southeast Conference

March 2014

In 2014 I had the opportunity to attend the American Society of Engineers’ (ASCE) annual SouthEast Conference. This was the first major conference in my undergraduate career, and I had no idea what to expect. Immediately after our team arrived, I realized how competitive the students were across the region. The SouthEast includes over twenty five highly-ranked universities, including Puerto Rican ones. The main two events each year are the Steel Bridge and Concrete Canoe competitions, both of which are made from scratch by students. Below are photos of the canoe being raced and a group photo of the steel bridge on display in Tampa, FL. The University Echo even wrote a story about us on our return, which you can read here.

Being a Computer Engineering major, I did not think I would be welcomed into the American Society of Civil Engineers like I have been. I was a sophomore still enrolled in many interdisciplinary engineering courses, when I was asked to come check ASCE out. The steel bridge interested me because I know how to MIG weld, and wanted to help out in this area. When I began attending meetings, I was encouraged by what I found. This organization is full of opportunity to learn, and invests heavily into underclassmen. It is so vital that university students engage with underclassmen, so that the information and experienced gained each year is carried on for the sake of improvements.

For the entire academic year leading up to the conference, we designed and built for the competitions. This included Saturday welding workshops, AutoCAD design sessions, and team discussion meetings. Being able to attend this conference and compete was a final reward after months of literal hard labor. Although it is tough work, I can assure you everyone on the team would do it all over again.