Students in our school ranked fourth and fifth respectively in Concrete Canoe and Geo Wall Competition of Pacific Division in ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)
Release Date: 2019-04-25
From Pacific time April 18 to 20, 2019, the Central Pacific Civil Engineering Competition was held at San Jose State University in California. The team of Southwest Jiaotong University, composed of 26 undergraduates from the Department of Civil Engineering and SWJTU-Leeds Joint School, took part in three competitions of Concrete Canoe, Geo Wall, and Mead Paper, under the leadership of Mr.Wei Kai and Mr. Zhang Rui from the Department of Bridge Engineering of the School of Civil Engineering. After fierce competition with more than 10 teams, our team finally won respectively the fourth and fifth place in the Concrete Canoe and Geo Wall.
This is the second time that our university has participated in the Central Pacific Civil Engineering Competition as a formal team. Plenty of powerful competitors engaged in the Pacific Division included the University of California, Berkley and Davies, the University of Nevada, Reno, Sacramento State University, Tongji University, Zhejiang University and other well-known universities. One year after the establishment of our school team, we have been instructed by Professor Pu Qianhui, Dean of the School of Civil Engineering, Party Secretary Liu Xueyi, Vice-Dean Fu Haiying, Vice-Secretary Zhouxi, Dean assistant Zhan Yulin, Director of Civil Engineering Teaching experiment Center He Wei, Deputy Director of Bridge Engineering Xiao Lin and Wei Kai, Zhang Rui, and teachers in the Leeds Joint-School. The participating undergraduates of Southwest Jiaotong University have spent one year making elaborate preparations and have completed tasks including the design of Concrete canoe, material experiment, canoe construction, rowing training, the design and manufacture of geo wall soil box, the writing of engineering paper and design paper, simulated defense and canoe packing and air transportation.
As the core part of the competition in Central Pacific Division, the Concrete Canoe is not only a competition for canoe construction but also a comprehensive test covering civil engineering knowledge, English communication skill and physical quality of all team members. At the early stage of preparation, our school team, after several discussions, decided to take "Nezha" as the theme of the participating canoe this year. At the same time, the participating canoe of this year has been innovated in many aspects such as the enhanced maneuverability of the canoe by optimizing the stern shape and shortening the overall length and a reduced weight of 30kg compared to that of last year by using better performing concrete material and adding prestress. In the spare time, the team also practiced English speaking, rowing and physical training on campus for a good-preparation
The afternoon of April 18 marked the official start of the competition. The undergraduate team members introduced the innovative work and achievements in the design of concrete canoe and geo wall to the judges and answered their questions in details in fluent English.
April 19thwitnessed an official beginning of the concrete canoe competitionat the Calero Reservoir in San Jose. The team members made a detailed introduction to the canoe in front of the foreign teachers, students and judges . The unique shape and smooth surface of “Nezha” received high praise. Our team competed with other universities with the slogan of “JiaoDa Xiongqi” (Cheer up, Southwest Jiaotong University!) resounded all over the spot. At the end of the competition, our team defeated the other three universities, including the University of California, Berkley, and won the first place in the mixed doubles. Finally, taken together the performance of oral presentation, final product, design paper and rowing race, our team ranked fourth in the Concrete Canoe Competition of Central Pacific Division, just behind Tongji University, the University of Nevada, Delino, and the University of California, Berkley. After the competition, the judges highly praised the wonderful performance and great progress of our team and also pointed out the aspects that we still need to improve in the future.
On April 20th, the team took part in the Geo Wall Competition and ranked fifth in the overall score. Within 30 minutes, the team completed the vertical, horizontal, impact-loaded wrap reinforced geo wall that satisfied the demand of the competition and finished loading.
During the event, our team actively exchanged experience with the participating universities at home and abroad to learn from their strengths in the competition. Before and after the event, at the invitation of Yang Ying, president of the Northern California Alumni Association, and another alumnus Doctor Liao Yun, our team visited Apple Inc. and University of California, Berkley, and Stanford University. The environment and atmosphere of the world-class universities and the learning moments gained through the visit, have helped our team accumulate more experience for the future events.
This event has provided our university with a valuable opportunity to compete with and learn from the world-class civil engineering universities, which not only broadened the students'' professional horizons, but also promoted the friendly exchanges between Chinese and American students. Additionally, it has also extended the international influence of Southwest Jiaotong University and spread the spirit of Southwest Jiaotong University- “SishiYangHua, ZiQiangBuXi” (cultivating talents for the rejuvenation of Chinese nation and making unremitting efforts for self-improvement) to overseas.
