The Notre Dame student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) hosted the 2025 ASCE Indiana-Kentucky Student Symposium on the University’s campus from April 3-5.
Over 400 individuals participated in the symposium, including over 330 students from 12 universities throughout Indiana and Kentucky.
The Notre Dame team earned a podium finish in 10 of the 15 competitions, resulting in a second-place finish overall at the symposium. A record-breaking 70 civil and environmental engineering students attended the symposium, which included 16 seniors, 15 juniors, 24 sophomores, and 15 first-year students.
The event took place at a variety of locations: the Dahnke Ballroom overlooking Notre Dame Stadium, Library Lawn, St. Mary’s Lake, Burke Golf Course, and Stepan Center. Participants attended a closing ceremony and banquet at South Bend’s Century Center on the St. Joseph River, where ASCE President-Elect Marsha Anderson Bomar, Ph.D. gave an address.
The symposium was the collective effort of 29 student coordinators, led by co-chairs Serra Marquez and Clare Seymour, as well as financial chair Nolan Nicholson. The weekend also featured over two dozen Notre Dame Civil Engineering alumni returning to campus, some with their families, to support the event by judging, volunteering and cheering.
The team excelled in a wide variety of events during the symposium, including:
Trivia Competition (1st)
Following the opening banquet, a trivia competition kicked off the symposium with multiple rounds of civil engineering questions. The Notre Dame team — seniors Liz Chen, Elena Que, Emma Speyrer, Noah Hollenback, and Sam Hillenmeyer — took first place.
Water Treatment Competition (1st)
Notre Dame took first in this new competition, captained by junior Zach Dooner and senior Joanna Nguyen-Tran. Using readily available materials, the team designed, constructed and tested a water filtration system to remove various contaminants.
3D Printed Bridge (1st)
The 3D Printed Bridge Competition required schools to design and build a bridge with a 20-inch span using multiple, interconnecting 3D-printed components, with a final weight of no more than 35 ounces. The Notre Dame team, captained by Francesca Vacko, won first place with its bridge, which held the maximum load of 70 pounds, also winning multiple subcategories such as fastest construction time, best design, and best presentation.
Concrete Cornhole (1st)
The Concrete Cornhole competition required teams to create a traditional cornhole board out of concrete, while adhering to mix and structural design specifications. Each university team then used their concrete cornhole board in a round-robin and tournament style competition. The Notre Dame team, led by junior Nick May, won the overall competition.
Concrete Canoe Competition (2nd)
This competition featured six 20-foot concrete canoes, which were raced on St. Mary’s Lake in a combination of slalom and sprint courses. In addition to the races, the teams were evaluated on their report, final product, and presentation. The Notre Dame canoe, ND500, was racecar-themed with its number, 42, referencing the university’s founding in 1842. Liz Chen captained the team to a second-place finish for the second straight year—the highest finish the student chapter has ever earned in the Concrete Canoe Competition.
Transportation Competition (2nd)
This year’s transportation competition required teams to develop a methodology for the placement of Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) to assist with pedestrian safety when using crosswalks. The Notre Dame team, led by sophomores Alex Morrissey and Liam Powell, won Best Methodology and Best Presentation, while finishing second overall.
Timber-Strong Competition (3rd)
The Timber-Strong Competition featured the assembly of a 2-story structure in 90 minutes. In the months leading up to the competition, the team produced calculations and BIM models to prove structural stability and predict beam deflection. The team, captained by senior Emma Speyrer, finished in third place overall, with an honorable mention award in recognition of the accuracy of their calculations.
Sustainable Solutions Competition (3rd)
The Sustainable Solutions team, captained by Armani Carreon, was responsible for proposing a site plan that would revitalize a current development by improving accessibility, walkability, and adding communal spaces. The Notre Dame team finished in third place.
Student Symposium Paper (3rd)
Senior Clare Seymour presented the Student Symposium Paper for Notre Dame. Student participants were required to answer the following questions: Considering ethics, what role do civil engineers play in the prevention and response to an infrastructure disaster? Should an infrastructure disaster rouse civil engineers globally to advocate for more resilient protections for built infrastructure from climate-driven and/or man-made disasters? Clare finished in third place in the competition.
Construction Institute Competition (3rd)
The Construction Institute team was tasked with renovating MetLife Stadium in preparation for the World Cup. They were responsible for several quantitative and qualitative tasks related to construction management. The team, led by senior Emma Quinn, finished in third place.
Steel Bridge Competition
Students designed, fabricated, and constructed a 20-foot steel bridge, which was load-tested, weighed, and judged on aesthetics. The bridge, composed of parts no longer than approximately three feet, had to be assembled while accounting for geographic considerations, including a hypothetical river that could not be entered during the construction process. To make this year’s task more complex, the bridge pier locations were not symmetrical, requiring additional design considerations. Points were awarded based on construction time, number of builders, total weight, aggregate deflection, and lateral deflection. Junior Braeden Snow and senior Lauren Kane led this year’s bridge team.
Balsa Wood Competition
Two Notre Dame teams, including one consisting entirely of first-year civil engineering students, were tasked with designing a balsa wood bridge in under two hours that could cover a one-foot span and undergo a load test. The bridges were then evaluated by normalizing the load they held by the bridge’s weight. Both Notre Dame teams finished in the top six out of 11 competing teams.
Surveying Competition
The Surveying Competition required teams to first create a topographic map, which was submitted before the symposium. Then, at the symposium, teams presented their map and conducted several field tests using a variety of surveying instruments and techniques. Senior Alex Castronovo and sophomore Alex Morrissey captained the team.
Concrete Bowling Competition
The Concrete Bowling Competition consisted of designing, casting, and competing with concrete bowling balls. Each team’s unique ball was tested to see how straight it could roll and how many pins it could hit. Sophomore Shannon Dorman and junior Kate Ancona captained the team.
Mystery Design Competition
The Mystery Design Competition, which had a geotechnical engineering focus, tasked teams with adding supports capable of holding a 40-pound weight atop an approximately 30-degree slope of sand.
Conference Members
Seniors
- Emma Quinn, ASCE Co-President
- Nolan Nicholson, ASCE Co-President, ASCE Symposium Financial Chair
- Serra Marquez, ASCE Symposium Chair
- Clare Seymour, ASCE Symposium Chair, Student Paper Competition Presenter
- Liz Chen, Concrete Canoe Project Manager
- Emma Speyrer, Timber-Strong Project Manager
- Armani Carreon, Sustainable Solutions Competition Captain
- Alex Castronovo, Surveying Competition Co-Captain
- Joanna Nguyen-Tran, Water Treatment Competition Co-Captain
- Angel Gonzalez-Rodriguez, Concrete Canoe Visual Captain
- Sam Hillenmeyer, Concrete Canoe Structural Captain
- Noah Hollenback, Concrete Canoe Mix Design Captain
- Quinn Akerman
- Lucas Braccia
- Ryan Mahoney
- Elena Que
Juniors
- Nicole Vaccaro, ASCE Vice-President
- Kate Ancona, ASCE Community Engagement Chair, Concrete Bowling Competition Captain
- Sam Tyler, ASCE Treasurer
- Zach Dooner, Water Treatment Competition Co-Captain
- Nick May, Concrete Cornhole Competition Captain
- Franki Vacko, 3D Printed Bridge Competition Captain
- Braeden Snow, Steel Bridge Project Manager
- Rovin Amores
- Mary Elizabeth Balof
- Joshua Dobashi
- Ben Fraser
- Bridget Hannon
- Michael Kolimago
- Molly Marino
- Quintin Thompson-Davoli
Sophomores
- Shannon Dorman, ASCE Secretary, Concrete Bowling Competition Co-Captain
- Joshua Johnson, ASCE Public Relations Chair
- Alex Morrissey, Transportation Competition Co-Captain, Surveying Competition Co-Captain
- Liam Powell, Transportation Competition Co-Captain
- Chiara Bilant
- Claire Burke
- Wyatt Coughlin
- Teresa Elfrink
- Lea Garcia
- Tristan Garcia
- Yahaira Gordillo Sinchi
- Rachel Hensley
- Evan Johnson
- Jesus Jurado
- Ceara Murphy
- Joshua Nsimbe
- Deryn O’Leary
- Alex Ordaz
- Morgan Pietruszkiewicz
- Lauren Price
- Zax Quirk
- Matt Scariano
- Michelle Tracy
- Maggie Tromp
First-Years
- Jaylin Al-Barati
- Katherin Arriaza-Gamino
- Sharon Cho
- Gabby Juhasz
- Sofia Klein
- Elizabeth Krueger
- Joey Liparto
- Griffin Milligan
- Michael Mioduszewski
- Anna Murphy
- Andrew Nance
- Kylie Person
- Sarah Sargent
- Patrick Shaw
- Sabrina Shonewise
ND Faculty, staff, graduate students, and alumni who assisted teams
- Andrew Bartolini, ASCE Advisor
- Brian Smith, Steel Bridge Advisor
- Elayne Swafford
- Steve Blackburn
- Brittany Bullard
- Roberto Cuevas
- Alan Hamlet
- Tina Mitchell
- Frank Severa
- Spencer Ness
- Joseph Klatt
- Kevin Walsh
The Notre Dame ASCE team is sponsored by the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences.
— Submitted by the ASCE team. Photos by Wes Evard, Notre Dame Engineering