Cal State Fullerton News and Information
  CSUF Home   |   About CSUF   |   Academics   |   Administration   |   Students   |   Future Students   |   Alumni   |   Visitors
 
  News:   Home  |   Archive  |   Calendar & Events   |   Arts  |   Titan Sports  |   Photo Gallery   |   TitanMag.com
From Concrete Canoes to a Seismic Simulator,
CSUF to Host Regional Engineering Conference

March 17, 2005 :: No. 155.

Who: Nearly 600 university students from throughout California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii will be applying the knowledge they’ve learned in the classroom to compete in a series of engineering contests at Cal State Fullerton.
What: The American Society for Civil Engineers Pacific Southwest Regional Conference hosted by Cal State Fullerton’s student chapter of ASCE
When: March 31-April 2
Where: Various locations throughout the Cal State Fullerton campus
Activities: Concrete canoes – Student teams design, build and race a four-person canoe constructed out of concrete. Canoes will be on display from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, March 31, near the university’s main entrance at the intersection of Nutwood and Commonwealth avenues. Canoe races are scheduled from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 2, at Bonelli Park in San Dimas. Five races are planned: women’s slalom, men’s slalom, women’s sprint, men’s sprint and coed sprint. Winners from the regional competition will compete in June at the 2005 National Concrete Canoe Competition at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Steel bridges – Teams design, fabricate and construct steel bridges that will be judged on stiffness, lightness, speed of construction, aesthetics, efficiency and economy. They will be displayed from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at the university’s main entrance. Judging will occur from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Friday, April 1, in the Cal State Fullerton Quad.

Seismic design – Students design and build scale models of high-rise buildings able to withstand the forces of a large-scale earthquake. Each structure will be tested Friday, April 1, in a seismic simulator or ‘shake table’ in Cal State Fullerton’s Civil Engineering Lab, Room 10 of the Engineering Building. Tests will be conducted from 9-11:30 a.m.

Other Activities: Concrete Frisbee and surveying contests from 9-11:30 a.m. March 31
Concrete bowling and surveying from 1-4:30 p.m. March 31
Tug-of war from 1-3 p.m. April 1
Students also will present technical papers and take part in a quiz bowl.
Quote: “This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to not only organize and plan an event, but to share in the practical experience of taking concepts and information taught in their engineering classes and putting it to use,” said Raman Unnikrishnan, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. “This provides valuable lessons that can only be achieved when actually taking concepts and knowledge and using them in applications similar to what they will be doing in their careers. I’m proud that the college, along with the American Society for Civil Engineers, is able to give students such opportunities.”
Editor's Note: Campus offices and classrooms will be closed Thursday, March 31, in observance of the Cesar Chavez holiday.
Media Contacts: Lisa D. Jones, assistant dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science,
at 657-278-2887 or ljones@fullerton.edu

Pamela McLaren of Public Affairs at 657-278-4852 or pmclaren@fullerton.edu


« back to News Front

Go to... Top


Cal State Fullerton Produced by the Office of Public Affairs at California State University, Fullerton.
Contact the web administrator for comments and problems with the website.
California State University, Fullerton © 2005. All Rights Reserved.