Cal Poly Concrete Canoe Team Headed to Nationals

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- A team of Cal Poly engineering students from the Society of Civil Engineers are headed to the 20th Annual ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition at the University of Washington in June.

The team will float their boat during the competition June 14 - 16. Cal Poly's Civil Engineering canoe team was assured a spot in the nationals after competing recently against 16 other universities in the 2007 Pacific Southwest Regional Conference. The competition was held in April at UC San Diego.

This year's team is led by civil engineering seniors Jason Kump from Nipomo, John Layous from King City, Jason Marshall from San Luis Obispo and Skye Orvis from Livermore.

The annual contest begins with hundreds of civil engineering students from over 200 engineering schools across the country. Only the top 23 teams are selected to compete in the national finals.

“The canoe was based on last year’s entry ‘Katana,’ which placed second in the nation, but a lot of changes were made,” said Marshall. This year the team employed a different molding technique and decorated the vessel with an elaborate tile mosaic, which was inspired by M.C. Escher.

“Our strong suit this year is definitely aesthetic presentation,” said Marshall. However, the team was also judged on the merits of a technical paper, an oral presentation of the design, and five different canoe races.

They are not allowed to alter the canoe design before nationals, but will continue to hone their paddling skills.

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