Wayne State students compete in 2012 ASCE Conference; sophomore takes first place in essay competition
DETROIT (April 19, 2012) - Wayne State University College of Engineering sophomore Stephanie Boileau (pictured below) won first place in an essay competition at the 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) North Central Student Conference. She joined 20 other Wayne State students at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, March 31 through April 1 to compete in the essay, concrete canoe and steel bridge competitions.
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Boileau also gave an oral presentation on her paper, which was based on the theme "ASCE and the Role of Ethics in Globalization," to win the top prize in the ASCE Student Chapter Technical Paper Competition.
"On behalf of the College of Engineering, I congratulate Ms. Boileau for her exceptional performance, which reflects the efforts of the broader WSU engineering community," said Peter Savolainen, associate professor and advisor to the WSU ASCE Student Chapter. "The students who participate in these competitions devote a significant amount of their time and energy during a busy academic year, and we are thrilled to see their efforts recognized by the engineering community."
According to Savolainen, Wayne State students made an impressive showing in both the concrete canoe and steel bridge competitions as well.
"The concrete canoe competition requires student teams to design, construct and race a concrete canoe," Savolainen explained. "Each canoe is judged on four components: a design report, a final product display, an oral presentation and paddling races. WSU placed fifth out of nine teams in the design report and fourth in both the men's and women's sprint races."
The steel bridge team, which was required to build a 1/10th-scale model steel bridge, was evaluated on assembly economy, construction speed, stiffness, lightness, display and efficiency. "The 2012 WSU steel bridge team performed better than any team in recent history," Savolainen said. "With a build time of approximately 23 minutes, they placed fifth overall and won third place in assembly economy. "
Both teams were proud of their performance and have already begun to design for next year's competition, which will be hosted by Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Mich. According to Boileau, "We are already in the planning stages for next year's competition and look forward to working with students from the School of Business Administration on the financial accounting and fundraising aspects of the competition."
Savolainen notes, "This continues a trend of interdisciplinary work between students from the College of Engineering and other units of the university, which reflects what students can expect when they enter the engineering workforce."
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Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students. For more information about engineering at Wayne State University, visit engineering.wayne.edu.