DATE: April 09, 2009

CONTACT: Steve Csernak, 864-656-3317
scserna@clemson.edu

WRITER: Susan Polowczuk, 864-656-2063
spolowc@clemson.edu

Clemson civil engineer teams win big at regional conference

CLEMSON — Clemson University's American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter has earned the first-place trophy at the 2009 Carolinas Conference. Clemson's teams of civil-engineering students placed first in a number of competitions at the regional conference making them eligible for two national competitions.

The event, held at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, included teams from North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, Duke, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the University of South Carolina, Trident Tech, Clemson and UNC-C.
Clemson took first place in the Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge, Quiz Bowl, T-shirt and Construction Management categories.

The National Concrete Canoe Competition, sponsored by the society, will be June 11-13 at the University of Alabama. The National Student Steel Bridge Competition, sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the engineer society, will be May 22-23 at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

For Clemson's chapter, this will be the 14th year in a row in the steel bridge national competition and the 16th year in the concrete canoe national competition. The previous Clemson teams won three national concrete canoe titles and one national steel bridge title.

This year Clemson competed in 13 events, placing in the top three positions in eight. Clemson teams placed second in the Mystery and Geotechnical competitions and third in the Surveying category. Twenty-nine students from the department of civil engineering participated.

To help sponsor a team in the nationals, contact Steve Csernak at scserna@clemson.edu.

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Clemson is a nationally recognized research university where approximately 5,500 students are enrolled in engineering and science undergraduate and graduate courses, with 350 faculty members in the college. The department of civil engineering is one of 20 of the largest civil engineering departments in numbers of degrees awarded in the United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate course work, continuing-education and public-service activities in the following areas: applied fluid mechanics, construction engineering and management, construction materials, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering and transportation systems. Go to http://www.clemson.edu/ce/ for more information.