Our geotechnical team is debuting a brand new Trojan-themed box for the PSWC 2015 Geowall competition:
New Geotech Box
All posts by Nick Halsey
Sponsorship Announcement: Kennedy/Jenks Consultants
We are pleased to announce that Kennedy/Jenks Consultants has become a “Tommy” sponsor of USC ASCE for 2014-15 with their donation of $500. Kennedy/Jenks Consultants provides engineering and scientific solutions for water, environmental, energy, and innovative projects to government agencies and private utilities, industry and business, federal programs, and transportation clients. Their sponsorship will provide the remaining funding necessary to support our design teams as we quickly approach our annual competition, PSWC.
Interested in becoming a sponsor? Learn more at our sponsorship page.
Concrete Canoe Paddling Practice with DiSCovery II
We took last year’s (2014) concrete canoe, DiSCovery II, out for a spin this weekend as we finalize our training for the canoe races at PSWC 2015. While this year’s canoe (Jurassic) is slightly different, we chose to keep the design very similar so that we could explore improvements to our paddling technique rather than making drastic changes.
The day started out a bit rough when we realized that we ordered the wrong sized UHaul to take the canoe to the beach. Note for the future: concrete canoes typically require at least a 22′ UHaul; don’t try fitting a 19′ canoe into a 20′ UHaul (bed length ~17′).
Once we made it, we set up buoys and practiced in DiSCovery II alongside the regular (plastic) practice canoes that we borrow from Newport Aquatic Center. All of our race teams practiced together, trying new techniques and making adjustments as needed to get comfortable with paddling in a concrete canoe.
We were surprised to realize that our concrete canoe is capable of being paddled much more quickly than the real canes we usually practice with. Overall we had a great practice and are looking forward to PSWC in less than two weeks!
Dog House Update: Assembly Complete
We’ve finished assembling the wood structure for the 2015 dog house. Next steps are to paint the exterior and execute our theme: “A Trip Around LA in Food Trucks”.
2014 Annual Report
The USC ASCE 2014 Annual Reports are now available for viewing. Due to new guidelines, this year USC ASCE has created two annual reports, one for national ASCE and one of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. The reports outline accomplishments from the past year and aim to seek improvements for coming years.
This year’s Viterbi Student Organization Report earned USC ASCE the Outstanding Student Organization Award for USC Viterbi.
2015 Workshop for Student Chapter Leaders
Six USC ASCE members represented our chapter this past weekend at the ASCE Workshop for Student Chapter Leaders (WSCL) in Seattle, WA. WSCL brings together students from Regions 8 and 9 of ASCE, representing 36 universities in the western United States. WSCL is part of the multi-regional leadership conference that brings together student chapters, younger member groups, and branch and section leadership.
On Friday we attended several student sessions designed to share knowledge, ideas, and best practices between chapters. A networking lunch offered the opportunity to meet more students as well as professional engineers, before a keynote presentation by ASCE President-elect Mark Woodson. In the afternoon we did break-out sessions to focus on particular topics such as fundraising, membership, and issues specific to smaller chapters.
We also participated in regional break-out sessions, where we met with leaders at all levels from our geographical region (Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch in the LA Section in Region 9). Our primary focus was to strengthen inter-chapter interactions and our coordination with the Los Angeles Younger Member Forum. To that end, we’re hosting a beach day next weekend with UCLA and CSULB.
In the evening we joined students from a couple of other student chapters (UCLA and CSULB) for dinner in Bellevue, before heading to downtown Seattle for the scavenger hunt organized by the Seattle Younger Member Forum. Newly-formed friendships continued strengthening deep into the night.
Saturday started with a networking breakfast accompanied by an extremely insightful presentation about generational issues that are likely to be encountered in current workplace environments. Students were also given an opportunity to do a Q & A session with the top ASCE leadership – the president, president-elect, and executive director. Another networking lunch, a leadership presentation, and several other sessions rounded out the day.
Once the conference was officially over, we still had about 24 hours to explore Seattle. Highlights include Pike Place Market, the Original Starbucks, socializing with students from other ASCE chapters, reconnecting with old friends at the University of Washington and exploring their campus, and seeing the Space Needle.
Overall, WSCL 2015 was an amazing experience. We met countless peers and professionals, explored new ideas for expanding our chapter’s goals and capabilities, and explored an awesome, quickly-growing city. I strongly recommend attending a future WSCL – keep an eye out for details about next year’s conference in Anchorage, Alaska (February 22-23, 2016) and the 2017 conference in Los Angeles.
Dog House Update
Our dog house team is getting ready for an exciting year. Winter, the husky, joined us at our latest meeting yesterday where we decided on a “food truck” theme for this year’s dog house. Join us at our weekly meetings, Fridays 1-2pm in KAP to get involved!
USC PSWC 2015 Team Announced
We’ve finalized our USC team for PSWC 2015! We’ll be bringing 52 members to compete in concrete canoe, steel bridge, environmental design, geowall, transportation, dog house, surveying, concrete bowling, and many more events.
This is the largest competition team we’ve brought to PSWC in recent history, and we’re confident that our excellent members can put up a good fight in defending our 3rd place overall finish from last year’s conference in San Diego. Here’s a comparison between our teams from last year and this year:
| 2014 USC Team | 2015 USC Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Team Size | 41 | 52 |
| Freshmen | 1 | 7 |
| Percent Female | 46% | 48% |
| Formal Design Teams | 4 | 8 |
| Distance to PSWC | 125 miles | 500 miles |
| Total Cost for USC ASCE | $11,100 | $16,800 |
| Corporate Sponsorship | $750 | $3,350 and counting |
Despite facing a further, more expensive trip, our chapter has come together to bring a larger, more diverse team. Now the hard work is kicking in as our eight major and secondary design teams design and build their projects. It’s never too late to get involved, even if you aren’t coming to PSWC!
Sponsorship Announcement: PENTA Building Group
We are pleased to announce that the PENTA Building Group has become a “Cardinal & Gold” Sponsor of USC ASCE for 2014-15 with their donation of $1,000. The PENTA Building Group is a general contractor that specializes in hospitality/entertainment, gaming, education, healthcare, and tribal. They recently finished the major renovation of the SLS Hotel & Casino, formerly known as the Sahara. PENTA will also be on USC campus this coming semester, remodeling part of the USC Davidson Conference Center at the corner of Jefferson/Figueroa. Although PENTA is based in Las Vegas, they also have regional offices in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Tulsa. PENTA is excited to be sponsoring our USC team in April at the 2015 ASCE Pacific Southwest Conference.
Interested in becoming a sponsor? Learn more at our sponsorship page.
USC ASCE PSWC 2015 Registration Information
Registration is now open for USC ASCE members to attend PSWC 2015! The Pacific Southwest Conference (PSWC) brings together over 1000 civil and environmental engineering students for a plethora of competitions, ranging from concrete canoe and steel bridge to dog house, environmental design, sports, and more. USC ASCE members can register for the conference and find all details here.
If you missed the PSWC Info Sessions we held last week, you can view our presentation slides here. Here’s a quick summary of the conference timeline and registration costs:
- November 17th – membership payment due for reduced PSWC cost
- December 5th – priority registration deadline
- January 12-24th – info sessions
- January 19 – April 7th – design & competition team meetings/practices
- January 26th – final registration deadline
- March 1st – team documents due
- March 13th – competition teams finalized, individual schedules released
- April 8-12th – PSWC 2015
Priority Registration – $160
- Friday, December 5, 2014
- Two-payment option available
Final – $180
- Monday, January 26, 2015
- All payments due in full
You MUST become a member of USC ASCE and ASCE nationals before registering for PSWC! $10 off if you pay your USC ASCE membership dues by Monday 11/17/14. Once you fill out the registration form, you can submit payments to our box in KAP 213 OR give to an E-Board member.
We’re looking forward to an awesome conference and to defending our 3rd place overall finish from last year! Email uscasce@usc.edu if you have any questions.