ASCE Student Chapter in 2 National Events

For the fifth year in a row, Fairmont State University's American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Chapter has earned the right to represent its region in the National Concrete Canoe Competition. This year, the Steel Bridge team has also earned an invitation to the National Steel Bridge Competition.

The National Concrete Canoe Competition will take place June 18-22 in Montreal, Canada. The National Steel Bridge Competition will take place May 23-24 in Gainesville, Fla. The two FSU teams are seeking support to offset the costs of attending these national events. For more information, call Tia Como, P.E., Faculty Advisor, at (304) 367-4629 or Chris Morgan, Director of Foundation Operation and Finances, at (304) 367-4788.

Members of the FSU Concrete Canoe team are Tim Windland, captain; Charlie French, co-captain; John Brown; Jeff Bonoventura; Bruce Degroot; Stephanie Slaubaugh; Jessica Griffith; and Hannah Hern. Members of the FSU Steel Bridge Team are Kostas Fintrilis, captain; Brandon Hinkle, co-captain; John Lafferre; Anthony Clark; Travis Markley; Josh White; and Ken Hacker.

This year's regional competition, the Virginias Conference, took place on April 17-19 in Summersville, W.Va. FSU co-hosted the venue with West Virginia University Institute of Technology. The Virginias Conference annually brings together 13 civil engineering and civil engineering technology programs from West Virginia, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Two hundred thirty students participated in this year's conference. Participating schools were WVU, FSU, WVUIT, Bluefield State College, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia Military Institute, Old Dominion University, Howard University, George Washington University, George Mason University and Catholic University of America.

FSU's concrete canoe team enjoyed a first place victory, and the steel bridge team won second place. FSU also took third place in Problem Solving, second place in Concrete Bowling, second place in Concrete Frisbee, second place in Environmental, second place in Engineering Jeopardy, and best use of labels in Can-Do Structure. Tim Windland, a senior at FSU, won the Stafford E. Thornton Award given by the West Virginia ASCE Section. For the eighth year in a row, Faculty Advisor Tia Como received the Advisors Letter of Commendation. FSU's ASCE Student Chapter also received the 2008 Region 4 Governors Award from ASCE National for the overall activities recorded in the group's 2007 annual report. The award is evaluated by the national Committee on Student Activities each year.

FSU's ASCE Student Chapter will host the sixth annual Summer Technical Conference in the Falcon Center on Thursday, June 5, with the theme, ''Something Old, Something New.'' Guest of honor will be Paul Mattox, P.E., Commissioner, WV DOH. Those who attend the conference can earn seven professional development hours.