ND students named champions of 2022 ASCE Indiana-Kentucky Student Conference Symposium

The Notre Dame student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) received top honors in the inaugural 2022 ASCE Indiana-Kentucky Student Conference Symposium.

Hosted this year by Trine University, the competitions took place the weekend of April 7-9 and featured 11 student chapters from Indiana and Kentucky.

The Notre Dame student chapter excelled in a wide variety of events during the symposium. The first-place finish represents the second consecutive student conference championship, as the student chapter won the final Great Lakes Regional Conference last year (the ASCE student conferences were realigned starting in 2022). The victory marks the second time the Notre Dame student chapter has won the student conference championship.  

• The Notre Dame team was known throughout the conference for bringing members to all events to cheer on and support each other. In recognition of their efforts, the Notre Dame team won the Team Spirit Award. 
• The Steel Bridge Competition consisted of designing and constructing a 20-foot- long steel bridge. The team constructed their bridge, which was composed of steel members no longer than 3.5 feet in length in just 28 minutes. Led by senior Lauren Kimes, the ND team finished in second place in aesthetics, construction time, cost estimate, and overall economy and efficiency. Overall, this was the highest finish in steel bridge team history. 
• The Concrete Canoe Competition consisted of a presentation and report detailing the efforts by the mix design and structural teams to build the Notre Dame canoe, “Lollacanoeza.” The team designed and constructed a 20-ft concrete canoe, which they transported to Trine for the competition. Led by senior Jack Mowat, the ND team finished in third place in this competition.
• Senior Matt O’Connor captained the Sustainable Solutions Competition, where a team provided a proposal to address homelessness through the creation of a transitional housing site for families. The team finished in second place.
• The UESI Surveying Competition consisted of a presentation and four different surveying activities. Led by junior Mason Fish, the team finished in third place. 
• Senior Jack Mowat presented the Technical Paper (Daniel W. Mead Competition) on the implementation of electric vehicles in Nebraska. Jack won the competition. 
• Sophomore Joan Deitsch captained the MSE (Mechanically Stabilized Earth) Competition, which designed and constructed a small-scale mechanically Stabilized earth retaining wall using paper reinforcement taped to a poster board wall facing. The team finished in second place. 
• The Mystery Design, which was announced just prior to the competition, consisted of building the tallest structure out of a deck of cards and a roll of tape to support the AISC Steel Manual. The team, led by junior Lalo Segura, finished in second place. 
• Junior Mason Fish won the first event of the weekend, which featured a bracket style Mario Kart competition.
• Junior Jack Sainz captained the Quiz Bowl team and sophomore Gustavo Jimenez-Guzman led the Cornhole Competition, both of which had strong showings during the symposium. 

The team worked hard all year, working to grow the club and re-establish many activities that were limited during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team is proud of how they have worked together over the last two years in not only performing at the highest level at the student conference, but also in growing the younger base of the club as they look forward to continuing to build on the success instilled by the senior leaders. 

Conference members

Seniors

Juniors

Sophomores

First-Years

ND faculty, staff, graduate students, and alumni who assisted teams

— Submitted by Andrew Bartolini and the ASCE team.