By GRANT GUGGISBERG
K State News Service
MANHATTAN — The Kansas State University Concrete Canoe Team will compete in the 35th Annual American Society of Civil Engineers Concrete Canoe Competition Finals after a second-place finish at the Regional Student Symposium of Central America in May.
The competition, which will feature 19 qualifiers from 10 regions, takes place Friday through Sunday at the Louisiana Tech University campus in Ruston, Louisiana.
The competition challenges teams to create a functional concrete canoe. The process includes designing a shell, performing structural analysis, and finally designing a concrete mix that satisfies the strength requirements found in the structural analysis. Teams are judged on their final product, design document, oral presentation, and race results. Races include men’s and women’s sprints and endurance races.
Canoes are also built around a theme, with K-State choosing Triton’s Trireme as the theme for 2022.
“As a team, we are honored to represent K-State in the competition,” said Maddie Akers, senior civil engineering and geology officer. “To see our hard work pay off has been a tremendous reward.”
Civil engineering senior Hunter Meier said the team bonded as they prepared for the regional competition on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
“Our team had grown closer in the weeks and months leading up to the competition in Ames,” he said. “Qualifying for the national competition in Ruston will further strengthen that bond and we look forward to competing again next year.”
Christopher Jones, a Wallis-Lage Family Cornerstone teacher-researcher and associate professor in K-State’s Department of Civil Engineering, is the team’s academic advisor.
K-State ASCE Concrete Canoe team members include the following students:
Civil Engineering Junior Hunter Prochaska, Beloit; Aidan Torrez, second-year civil engineering student, Bucyre.
Of Greater Kansas City: Luke Vohs, senior in civil engineering, Lenexa; Isabelle McCann, senior in civil engineering, Assignment; Quinn Underwood, Senior Civil Engineer, land park; and Amelia Mullin, senior in architectural engineering, Shawnee.
Hunter Meier, Senior Civil Engineer, lincoln; Dalton Willbrant, graduated May 2022 in civil engineering, manhattan; Lindsay Schupp, freshman in general engineering, oskaloosa; Cody Meyer, Civil Engineering Junior, sabetha; Nathan Streeter, second-year civil engineering student, Saline; Abbi Clark, Civil Engineering Junior, Wamego; and Kisan Patel, Senior Civil Engineer, Wichita.
From out of state: Ben Garnmeister, Civil Engineering Junior, Arlington Heights, Illinois; Kayleigh Bednar, second-year industrial engineering student, Kansas City, Missouri; Ciara Hogsett, graduated May 2022 in civil engineering, Willow Springs, Mo.;andMaddie Akers, Senior Civil Engineer, Omaha, Nebraska.