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UNM hosts civil engineering regional meeting, concrete canoe contest

April 13, 2015 - By Kim Delker

The University of New Mexico Department of Civil Engineering was host to the 2015 Rocky Mountain Regional Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers from April 9-11.

The meeting brought together 14 universities from New Mexico, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, and Colorado. About 350 students attended.

Among the events was a concrete canoe contest, in which student teams from the universities in attendance designed, built, and raced canoes constructed from concrete. The racing took place April 11 in Cochiti Lake in Sandoval County. Results of the contest can be found here

In addition to the canoe racing, there were competitions of steel bridge design, as well as various paper and chapter presentations and tours of the Centennial Engineering Center.

Mahmoud Taha, professor and chair of the Department of Civil Engineering, said that this conference is significant because each of the 14 universities take turns hosting the conference, so that means it will be another 14 years before the conference is held at UNM.

"This is a great opportunity for visibility for UNM and the Department of Civil Engineering," Taha said. "It gives students and faculty from other universities, as well as our many corporate partners, a chance to see the research and facilities that the department has to offer."

Taha said this could lead to greater research and industry collaboration.

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