Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Austin Moore and Jesse Doyle loaded life jackets, paddles and a 330-pound concrete canoe named "Dawgliverance" for an outdoor trip this week in Washington state.
They and 10 other Mississippi State students will navigate waters unknown to any other Mississippi engineering major. The university dozen are the first from the Magnolia State ever to advance to the national finals in the 20-year history of the American Society of Civil Engineers' National Concrete Canoe Competition.
After winning first place in regional competition in March, the Maroon and White canoeists began making plans to compete against 21 other top engineering colleges throughout the country. The goal all are seeking: to win the "America's Cup of Civil Engineering."
To be held Thursday-Saturday [June 14-16], the national competition is being hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle, which also is fielding an entry.
Each team will compete in four categories: aesthetics and structural integrity, a technical design paper that highlights planning, development, testing, and construction; and an academic presentation covering the design, construction, racing ability, and other innovative features.
And, then, there's the canoe race itself.
Moore, a Jackson native and May graduate in civil engineering, said serving as team co-captain has helped him develop skills necessary as a project leader. Moore, who begins MSU graduate school next month in landscape architecture, and Picayune native Doyle, the other co-captain, raised about $10,000 for their team to travel to the competition.
"I've learned a lot of good management skills," Moore said of budgeting, deadlines and interpersonal skills necessary for a winning team. "It's just like a project in daily life."
The MSU canoe is the same one the team used during the March regional competition. National guidelines prohibit teams from making modifications to canoes between the regional and national competitions.
The shallow-draft craft uses a special formula of lightweight concrete using a mix that weighs less per cubic foot than water itself. Doyle, who begins MSU graduate school in civil engineering in August, said the formula weighs much less than a standard concrete mix, but is durable enough to handle the competitions and the return trip to Starkville.
Dennis Truax, department head of civil and environmental engineering, said the students' dedication to the project shows through their success, especially since many worked long hours on the craft while juggling classes, job interviews and other commitments.
"It's no small feat and certainly no accident that the students have been able to do this," Truax said.
Also in the competition are teams from California Polytechnic State University at Pomona and San Luis Obispo; City College of New York; École de technologie supérieure in Quebec, Canada; and Fairmont State, Michigan Technological, New Mexico State, North Carolina State, Ohio Northern, Washington State, and Western Kentucky universities.
Others come from the universities of Florida, Houston, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Maine, Nevada at Reno, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Wisconsin at Madison, and Wisconsin at Plattville.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Dr. Truax at 662-325-7187 or truax@cee.msstate.edu.
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LOCAL EDITORS: Moore is the son of Val and Nelda Moore [39272]; Doyle, the son of David and Terri Doyle.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.