About Us

As a project team of the Society of Civil and Structural Engineers (SCSE), the UCSD Concrete Canoe Team is a collegiate organization that focuses on structural analysis and concrete mix design to construct a working 20-ft concrete canoe for the annual ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition. Our team is open to UCSD Structural Engineering students of all years as we hope to provide a valuable experience that professionally develops each of our student members. UCSD Concrete Canoe is comprised of six subteams that work together to plan, design, and build our canoe- each with their unique responsibilities that are essential to the execution of our final product. We hope that this site gives you a comprehensive introduction to who we are, what we do, and how we are able to successfully execute our goals every year as a proud engineering team representing UCSD!

Mission

Although a concrete canoe doesn't sound very practical, it is a challenging task that pushes our team to innovate as engineers of the future. Through this project team, we hope to give prospective Structural Engineering students a unique hands-on opportunity where they apply their knowledge from the classroom to a material project and practice effective communication and leadership skills that will help encourage personal and professional growth.

UCSD Concrete Canoe is an immersive opportunity to work in a collaborative environment with peers, faculty, and industry professionals to resemble the real-world engineering process of design, structural analysis, and project management. We grow and succeed through innovation, togetherness, and perseverance to achieve sustainable and cost-effective design.

Competition

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Our
Story

The Pacific Southwest Symposium (PSWS) is a regional conference event that hosts a variety of civil engineering competitions, including the ASCE Concrete Canoe competition. Every year, UCSD competes against 18 other college teams from across the nation. This year, our team will be attending the PSWS in the University of Hawai'i at Manoa from April 4th-6th.

The design prompt is to design and build a working concrete canoe to be evaluated as a product presented to the judges. Canoes are judged in the following 4 categories:

Final Product (25 points): The canoe will be judged on aesthetics, durability, workmanship, and overall product display.
Canoe racing (25 points): There are 5 races (men's, women's, and co-ed) on an endurance course and sprint course.
Oral presentation (25 points): A 5-minute presentation in which presenters market their final product and answer judges' questions in a professional manner.
Technical paper (25 points): A paper that details the design process, development and testing, and decision-making in all subteams. It includes construction drawings and structural analysis calculations.

UCSD has participated in the ASCE Concrete Canoe competition since 2003 and was one of the top 5 winning teams in past years. Led by prospective students and guided by our talented professors in the Structural Engineering Department, we continue to innovate despite our obstacles. These past 2 years have dramatically impacted the landscape of engineering competitions across the nation, including Concrete Canoe. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team was dramatically impacted due to the knowledge gap left from our preceding team in 2020. Since then, our team has worked diligently to independently research concepts, reconnect with past contacts, and improve on our methods to make it back to the podium. This coming year, we plan to innovate new design and construction techniques in order to achieve a sustainable and cost-effective build. If you are interested, learn more about how to get involved here.