The Georgia Tech student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) found success in a variety of competitions at the ASCE Student Symposium, held during spring break at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Participating in 16 different competitions, the chapter finished third in the overall rankings, according to conference chair Lisa Wu. Among the first-place finishers, two of Georgia Tech’s teams qualified to advance to national competitions.
The Sustainable Solutions team qualified for the ASCE national competition that will take place at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, June 19-22. The Construction Institute (CI) team will be able to send one team member to compete at the annual ASCE CI Student Days conference in Costa Mesa, Calif., from July 12-16.
The GT-ASCE Sustainable Solutions team, led by Mary Helvie, accept their first place award at the ASCE Student Symposium. (Photo courtesy GT-ASCE)
The Sustainable Solutions competition challenged teams to create a revitalization and redevelopment plan for a waterfront area in the fictional “City of ASCE.” Sixteen ASCE student teams around the world who won their regional competitions are advancing to the national competition.
Sustainable Solutions team captain Mary Helvie said the GT-ASCE team “stood out with the detailed calculations and stakeholder engagement from peers, professors, research groups, and industry professionals.”
The ASCE judges were impressed by the Georgia Tech team, with comments like, "you blew us out of the water with your interview and presentation" and "just from reading your report it is evident that a lot of time and effort was put into this project."
Helvie attributed the team’s success to their expertise along with everyone’s willingness to research and learn.
“I am beyond honored to lead such an amazing team and excited to do it again at nationals,” Helvie said.
The Construction Institute team, led by Arya Desai, accept their first place award at the 2024 ASCE Student Symposium in Orlando. (Photo courtesy GT-ASCE)
The Construction Institute was a deliverable-based competition that occurred only during the symposium, said the team’s captain Arya Desai. Judges provided each team the same construction drawings and information, and the groups had to answer questions about the project, Desai said. During the second part of the competition, each group presented their results as a project proposal.
“Although our team lacked experience with roadway design and construction, we were able to still win first place, which was a great accomplishment,” Desai said.
The GT-ASCE Steel Bridge team finished in second place in two categories and in third place for lightness.
“It was a great bridge, light and strong,” said the team’s advisor, CEE Facilities Manager Andrew Udell. “I am delighted at the chapter’s overall third-place showing.”
See below for the full list of GT-ASCE teams that placed in the top three:
First Place
- Sustainable Solutions, led by Mary Helvie.
- Construction Institute, led by Arya Desai.
- Plans Reading, led by Jackie Zong.
Second Place
- Student Symposium Paper, delivered by Antonia Kopp.
- PCI Prestressed Mini-Beam Competition, led by Ana Contreras.
- Steel Bridge Efficiency, led by Joshua Gargan.
- Steel Bridge Stiffness, led by Joshua Gargan.
- Concrete Canoe - Technical Presentation, led by Daniel Ng.
Third Place
- Concrete Cornhole, led by Theodore Lemire.
- Steel Bridge Lightness, led by Joshua Gargan.