April 8, 2010

Each year, approximately 250 civil engineering students from universities around the Washington, D.C., area convene for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Virginia Conference. This year's event takes place on April 8, 9, and 10, hosted by Catholic University's student chapter of ASCE.

Highlights of the meeting are the annual concrete canoe race and the steel bridge competition to be held at Lake Fairfax on Friday, April 9, from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 6 p.m.

Activities return to CUA's campus on Saturday, April 10, beginning with a surveying competition at 9 a.m. and concluding at 6 p.m. with an awards dinner in the Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center Great Room.

In between those events, civil engineering students will try their hand at competitions in AutoCAD and concrete bowling and test their speaking abilities with an oral competition. A highlight of this year's conference is the Mystery Design competition from 9 to 11 a.m.

In addition to CUA, other universities represented include Bluefield State College, Fairmont State University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Howard University, Old Dominion University, University of Virginia, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Polytechnic University, West Virginia University, West Virginia Institute of Technology and the University of the District of Columbia.

"CUA is proud and excited to host this year's ASCE regional student conference. Our students, Chris Hudson and Stephen Miller, and their team have done a great job of organizing the event. Where else can you go to see canoes made of concrete race one another?" says Binh Tran, assistant dean of CUA's School of Engineering.

For more information, contact Chris Hudson at 86hudson@cardinalmail.cua.edu . Access a complete schedule by clicking here .

Established as a school at Catholic University in 1930, engineering offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in biomedical, civil, electrical, mechanical engineering and computer science, as well as a master's degree in engineering management. The school has more than 6,000 alumni serving in professional roles such as university president and dean, company CEO and president, government agency head and researcher of national stature.

MEDIA: To cover the conference, contact Katie Lee or Mary McCarthy in CUA's Office of Public Affairs at 202-319-5600.