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UT Tyler Civil Engineering Students to Compete in National Concrete Canoe Competition

Nineteen students in The University of Texas at Tyler Department of Civil Engineering will compete in the 2009 American Society of Civil Engineering National Concrete Canoe Competition in June by winning first place overall in the Texas-Mexico Concrete Canoe Competition held at Padre Island, Dr. James Nelson, College of Engineering and Computer Science dean, announced.

The team qualified with their canoe entry “The Krewe of Rex.” UT Tyler competed against other Texas universities including UT Austin, UT El Paso, Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University, as well as two institutions in Mexico. Participants build canoes with concrete and are judged in four categories: technical design report, oral design presentation, canoe final product and racing.

This is the second year UT Tyler participated in the event.

UT Tyler team members are:

• Seniors: Cole Allen of White Oak; Chris Clark of Tyler, Kourtney Davis of Tyler; Stephanie Edmiston of Whitehouse; Grant Hamman of Sekal; Carson Hollis of Henderson; Clint McAdams of Huntsville; and Joshua Williams of Daingerfield.

• Juniors: Donald Hodges of League City; Hossein Hosseiny of Arlington; Andy LaGrone of Minden; Matt Malley of Linden; Jeremy McLeod of Fairfield; and Brittany Meloni of San Antonio.

• Sophomores: Kevin Graham of Flint; Cortland Jones of Reklaw; Bryan Mahlke of Henderson; Emily Moore of Whitehouse; and Clint Morrison of Tyler.

“The success of this year’s endeavor would not have been possible without the enormous efforts of this year’s seniors who built upon the success of last year’s seniors as well as the invaluable assistance from many of local companies from the East Texas area,” said Dr. Ron Welch, Department of Civil Engineering chair. “This experience truly let the students in the UT Tyler civil engineering program and the other universities in Texas know that the UT Tyler Department of Civil Engineering has arrived.”

The program began in 2005 and had its first graduates in May 2008.         

University students were first able to complete in the regional competition last spring once they were recognized as an ASCE student chapter in January 2008. They took second place with their entry “The Pioneer.”

For more information about the UT Tyler Department of Civil Engineering, contact Welch, 903.566.7002 or rwelch@uttyler.edu.

One of the 15 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler offers excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. Nearly 90 undergraduate and graduate degrees are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of more than 6,000 high-ability students at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.