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2020 Symposium Recap: Unity is Strength

2020 Symposium Recap: Unity is Strength

The 2020 ASCE Texas Student Symposium gathered over 400 students and professionals from Texas and Mexico from March 4th through 7th in Arlington, Texas. The Symposium offered students the opportunity to showcase their year of hard work in the Concrete Canoe, Concrete Bowling, Concrete Frisbee, Blue Sky, Surveying, Research Poster and Technical Paper Competitions, attend technical and career-oriented seminars, interact with potential employers at the career fair and networking mixers, and exchange ideas with colleagues from across the state and Mexico. The competitions couldn’t have been a success without the dedicated time and support from the wonderful volunteer judges from ASCE Texas Section, led by Head Judge, Jessica Hilscher PE.

This year’s Symposium was co-hosted by the ASCE and Chi Epsilon Student Chapters at the University of Texas at Arlington with “Unity is Strength – La Union es la Fuerza” as the event theme. This theme emphasized engineers from different cultures and countries working together as leaders in their communities to build a better quality of life across the street and around the world.

CAREER FAIR & SEMINARS

Texas Section volunteers led the planning effort for the 2020 ASCE Texas Student Symposium Career Fair, which offered 20+ different agencies and companies a unique opportunity to interact with and speed interview the brightest students from 19 universities on Friday.

During the event, the Student Chapters at UT Arlington worked with professionals to present career-based seminars that included Email etiquette, Networking Tips, and several other additional topics to prepare the students for their professional career.

Additionally, ASCE Dallas Branch leaders coordinated technical presentations on relevant topics, such as Construction, Environmental & Water Resources, Geotechnical, History & Heritage, and many other topics that engaged students and allowed professional attendees the opportunity to earn Professional Development Hours (PDHs).

On both Thursday and Friday, students and professionals enjoyed a break in the day with luncheons featuring guest speakers who shared industry knowledge and motivated and inspired students to excel in their careers. Attendees enjoyed an inspiring presentation on Thursday afternoon when speaker, Jonathan Brower from L.A. Fuess Partners, presented about how ASCE helped him grow into the person he is today. On Friday, attendees learned about the importance of civil engineers’ involvement in elected offices from guest speaker, Mayor of Arlington Jeff Williams.

SOCIAL EVENTS

The social events during the ASCE Texas Student Symposium brought students and professionals together to better build connections and networks in a fun setting. The first social was held Thursday at Free Play Arcade. Students and professionals enjoyed a casual networking along with music, food, and games! The social was planned by the ASCE Fort Worth Branch’s amazing team of Younger Members. Everyone enjoyed classic arcade games and nostalgic memories. PAC-MAN, Frogger, Donkey Kong… need we say more?

The second social, held on Friday at UT Arlington’s Brazos Park, highlighted a local band featuring UT Arlington’s own students and alumni, including one civil engineering student, two mechanical engineering students, one electrical engineering student, and two civil engineering alumni. Students and professionals had fun listening to the band and enjoyed the food and many carnival-style games that were provided.

The second social, held on Friday at UT Arlington’s Brazos Park included a local band featuring one of UT Arlington’s own civil engineering students. Students and professionals had fun listening to the band and enjoyed the food and many carnival-style games that were provided.

The Symposium concluded with the annual awards banquet, during which winners were announced and recognized. The awards banquet was held in a business professional setting at the Arlington Sheraton Hotel and was a great way for everyone to learn from each other and for students to celebrate their hard work over the year in preparation for the competitions. Before awards were presented, keynote speaker and ASCE Texas Section President, Susan Roth PE, PMP, discussed the importance of volunteering and prepared students for their careers as new civil engineers. After the banquet concluded, the ballroom was converted into a dance club with a live DJ. It was a fun surprise for all attendees!

Overall, the Symposium social events played an important role in the developing relationships between students and professionals while providing a way for everyone to have fun and learn at the same time.

CONCRETE CANOE

The Concrete Canoe competition brought together 14 universities from across Texas and Mexico. Competing universities were judged on the display, design paper, oral presentation, and racing of a 20-ft. concrete canoe. Student creativity shined through every part of this competition. The races were unable to be held on Saturday at Lake Viridian due to inclement weather. After evaluating each university on display, design paper, and oral presentation alone, judges awarded Tecnologico de Monterrey won first place overall, qualifying them to advance to the national competition. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 concerns, ASCE has cancelled the 2020 national competition.

STUDENT BUSINESS MEETING

The annual Student Business Meeting was well attended by two undergraduate students from each university in our region as well as by students from guest schools working to start an ASCE Student Chapter. Students at this meeting considered and approved various motions to plan for and improve future Symposiums by talking through how to decrease student costs and increase overall student participation.

COMPETITION RESULTS

Concrete Canoe

  1. Tecnologico de Monterrey
  2. The University of Texas at Tyler
  3. The University of Texas at Austin
  4. University of Houston
  5. Texas A&M University
  6. Tarleton State University
  7. Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico
  8. The University of Texas at El Paso
  9. Universidad La Salle Victoria
  10. The University of Texas at San Antonio
  11. Lamar University
  12. Texas Tech University
  13. The University of Texas at Arlington
  14. Texas A&M University – Kingsville

Annual Student Paper Presentation Competition

  1. Lamar University
  2. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
  3. Texas A&M University
  4. Angelo State University
  5. Tarleton State University
  6. Tecnológico de Monterrey
  7. Texas A&M University – Kingsville
  8. Texas Tech University
  9. The University of Texas at Arlington
  10. The University of Texas at Austin
  11. The University of Texas at El Paso
  12. The University of Texas at San Antonio
  13. The University of Texas at Tyler
  14. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
  15. Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico
  16. Universidad La Salle Victoria
  17. University of Houston
  18. DNS- University of Houston-Downtown
  19. DNS- West Texas A&M University

Surveying

  1. Angelo State University
  2. Tarelton State Team #2
  3. UT Austin
  4. University of Houston

Concrete Bowling

  1. The University of Texas at Tyler
  2. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley #2
  3. Tarleton State University
  4. Angelo State University
  5. Tecnológico de Monterrey
  6. West Texas A&M University
  7. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley #1
  8. The University of Texas at Arlington
  9. The University of Texas at Austin
  10. University of Houston #1
  11. University of Houston #2

Blue Sky

  1. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
  2. Angelo State University
  3. University of Houston
  4. Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico

Concrete Frisbee

  1. University of Houston-Downtown
  2. The University of Texas at Tyler
  3. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
  4. Tarleton State University
  5. Tecnológico de Monterrey
  6. The University of Texas at Arlington
  7. The University of Texas at Austin
  8. West Texas A&M University
  9. University of Houston

Research Poster Competition

  1. Zachary Smolen & Oluwatosin Ogunlaja for Piox at Wastewater Treatment Plants from The University of Texas at Tyler
  2. Gabriela Morales-Alvarez for iBless from The University of Texas at Tyler
  3. Jared Domine for N-Body Adaptive Optimization of Lattice Towers from Tarleton State University
  4. Sheida Khademi for Housing Assignment to Improve Commnity Health & Safety from The University of Texas at Arlington

Keith McBride Spirit of the Competition Award Winner — Tarleton State University


THANK YOU TO OUR 2020 SPONSORS


SAVE THE DATE

The 2021 ASCE Texas Student Symposium will be hosted by the ASCE Student Chapter at The University of Texas at Austin on April 14-17, 2021. The Texas Section along with the Austin Branch is looking forward to supporting the Student Chapter in their planning efforts!