University of Florida Wins 34th ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition

University of Florida won the 34th annual National Concrete Canoe Competition hosted by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. The Gators also won the competition in 2019 and, because the 2020 competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now stand as back-to-back winners. Twenty-two universities participated in the event, which was held virtually for the first time. The University of Florida canoe – the Polligator – placed Top 3 in all three categories in the event: second in the technical proposal category, second for technical presentation and third for enhanced focus areas.

“The Concrete Canoe competition demonstrates engineering ingenuity and shines a spotlight on the future of our profession,” said Jean-Louis Briaud, Ph.D., P.E., ASCE president. “The idea of a concrete canoe would seem to many as counterintuitive. Students must demonstrate exceptional leadership for them to come together and find creative solutions to this problem and create a competitive concrete canoe.”

Teams are assessed based on three key criteria of competition: a technical proposal, technical presentation and enhanced focus area. Usually, the competition is based on four criteria, with an in-person canoe race being the fourth component. With this being the first year the competition was held virtually, teams did not travel to a host school to compete in person and, therefore, did not face off in a head-to-head race. Instead, teams were judged on their presentations and inventive design elements.

“With such a weird year, we were trying to be considerate of health and safety protocols, but we also wanted to make sure it was still fun, and that we were still advancing technically and addressing everything that the competition was asking of us,” said Suzanna Barna, co-project manager for the University of Florida team. “And maintaining that University of Florida legacy we have going on with our family of alumni.”

For placing first, the Gators received a $5,000 cash prize to the school’s ASCE student chapter and the “Civil Engineering Cup.” The second-place Youngstown State University team received a $2,500 cash prize and a trophy and the third-place University of Washington team received a $1,500 cash prize and a trophy.

For a full list of competition results and award winners, including past winners, follow this link.