The whole team with their winning concrete canoe

The Citadel American Society of Civil Engineering student chapter wins first place in concrete canoe competition

Have you ever tried to make concrete float? If you ask a group of civil engineering cadets and veteran students, they will probably answer with a resounding ‘yes.’ Making a slab of concrete float is exactly how The Citadel’s American Society of Civil Engineering student chapter won first place in the concrete canoe event at The Carolinas Conference over the weekend of April 9th-11th.

The cadet and student team placed first in the concrete canoe competition, upsetting a Clemson team that has dominated the event for over a decade. The competition asks teams to create a canoe, made of concrete, which not only has to float while carrying passengers, but that can also be sunk underwater to resurface on its own.

The event was only one out of 10 other competitions that The Citadel’s team participated in, and they brought home four additional trophies, including first place in the mead paper; first place in the concrete canoe presentation; second place in concrete canoe men’s sprint; and third place in the overall conference competition. Approximately 300 participants from 10 colleges across the Carolinas and Georgia competed in the regional conference, hosted this year by Georgia Institute of Technology.

Simon Ghanat, a faculty advisor that helped to lead the 32-member team, said, “Our cadets and students were passionate about participating in this year’s conference and demonstrated great teamwork. The results are a tribute to the hard work, dedication and commitment of our students and faculty advisors.”

Below is the list of cadets, officer candidates (OC), evening undergraduate students and veteran students who were a part of the 2015 concrete canoe team.

Team Captains:  Zach Peters and Trent Butler

Quality Assurance and Safety Manager:  SSgt Jason McDonald

Design Paper and Compliance Manger: OC Tyrel Stevenson and OC Joseph Page

Mix Design Coordinator:  Colt Kirkpatrick

Mold Prep and Construction Coordinator:  Charles Parrott

Aesthetics and Theme Coordinator:  Hanna Holt

Engineering Notebook and Display Coordinator:  Amber Mills

Hull Design Coordinator:  OC Tyrel Stevenson

Sanding and Finishing Coordinator:  Daniel McCullough

Rowing Captain:  Grant Eversman

Fundraising and Student Coordinator:  Zach Eulo

Presentation Coordinator:  OC Marcus Padilla

Cross-Section Coordinators:  Hank Morgan and Joel Mann

Placing first in this completion qualifies the team to compete in the National Concrete Canoe Competition, which will be held in June at Clemson University.

The School of Engineering at The Citadel is the second most sought after discipline at the college, with civil engineering being the top choice for engineering students. The engineering program was ranked 23rd among the nation's best undergraduate engineering programs at schools offering up to a master’s degree by U.S. News & World Report in 2015.

Megan Campbell is a graduate assistant in the Office of Communications and Marketing at The Citadel. She is currently working toward her master’s degree in secondary education with a concentration in English