On August 7-8, OSU hosted the executive committee meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geomatics Division (GMD). Committee members from CCE included Assistant Professors Dan Gillins and Mike Olsen, and Associate Professor Chris Parrish as well PhD Graduate Student Michael Dennis. The focus of the meeting was to develop a new version of the ASCE Engineering Surveying Manual – last updated in 1984. This manual, to be edited by Prof. Gillins is intended to provide important concepts for practicing engineering surveyors and will cover significant advances in geomatics over the past few decades and their role in civil engineering. Topics at the executive committee meeting included discussions on model law and the future of surveying as well as ASCE’s newly formed Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute (UESI), which takes effect October 1, 2015.

ASCE Executive Committee Geomatics Division
Executive Committee of the ASCE Geomatics Division

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DSCN1781Last week, the OSU ASCE steel bridge team captured the team title at the  2014 ASCE Pacific Northwest Student Conference. With the victory in the steel bridge competition, OSU will advance to the ASCE national competition, held from May 23-23 in Akron, Ohio. The performance marked the first time in over 10 years the group has advanced to nationals. With a goal of raising $5500 for the trip to nationals, supporters can contribute to the trip by visiting the group’s fundraising website.

The victory in the steel bridge competition capped a solid weekend for OSU ASCE as the group placed second in the environmental competition and concrete bowling ball competition while the concrete canoe team placed third.

Portland State University hosted the 2014 student conference from April 25-27 as it featured over 350 students from universities in Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Montana.

A complete rundown of OSU results is below.

2014 ASCE Pacific Northwest Student Conference – OSU Results

Steel Bridge:
1st – Aesthetics
1st – Construction Speed
3rd – Lightness
1st – Overall
Concrete Canoe:
1st – Women’s Endurance
3rd- Men’s Endurance
2nd – Women’s Sprint
6th – Men’s Sprint
1st – Coed Sprint
3rd – Overall
Environmental Competition:
2nd – Overall
Concrete Bowling Ball Competition:
2nd – Overall
An additional congratulations for excellent work to:
Kristina Milaj in the Technical Paper and Presentation Competition.
The four ASCE members who participated in the Surveying Competition.

Congratulations to the Oregon State University American Society of Civil Engineers Student Chapter for winning four awards handed out by the organization! The chapter was honored with the following:

2014 ASCE Distinguished Chapter Award for Region 8  (top chapter in OR, WA, AK, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, AZ)

2014 Richard J. Scranton Outstanding Community Service Award  – Top chapter in the nation. The ASCE Student Leadership Award is granted to an ASCE Student Member who has demonstrated leadership in a Student Chapter/International Student Group through various activities (e.g., service as an officer, leading special events, interaction with university administration, and interaction with ASCE Sections/Branches). OSU ASCE was recognized for their work in Nicaragua.

2014 Outstanding Practitioner Advisor Award for Region 8  – Ken Archibald

2014 Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award for Region 8  – Tom Miller

 

Jordan Beamer, Ph.D. candidate, was one of six students selected for the prestigious 2014 CUAHSI Pathfinder Fellowship. This fellowship provides funding for students to travel to another location in order to pursue collaborative work related to their thesis project.

Jordan’s PhD work focuses on quantifying coastal freshwater discharge into the Gulf of Alaska, and Prince William Sound in particular. He will be traveling to Fairbanks, Alaska, in order to collaborate with Dr. Anthony Arendt of the Geophysical Institute on the topic of glacial meltwater contributions to coastal runoff. Jordan is supervised

Thomas Mosier, Ph.D. candidate in WRE / MIME (dual major) was one of 12 US students admitted to the Third International Summer School in Glaciology, heldthis month in McCarthy, Alaska. The OSU grad student recently posted an update on his studies at the summer school in the blog “Lindsay in the Arctic,” and describes why his research is focused on the Karakoram and Himalayan Mountains in Asia.

Organized by the University of Alaska, the School brings together top PhD students studying glaciers and glacial processes and exposes them to top international faculty in the field. Thomas is supervised by Dr. David Hill, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Dr. Kendra Sharp, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

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The Oregon State University School of Civil and Construction Engineering placed three teams among the top three in their respective categories at the 27th Annual Associated Schools of Construction Region 6 and 7 Student Competition, held Feb. 5-8 at the J.A. Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Nev.

OSU captured two team titles at the event, winning the Marine and Mechanical contests while the Determining Project Risk squad finished in second-place.

The marine victory was the fourth for OSU and the second in the last three years. Marine team members for the competition included OSU students Nicholas Briesach, Jeffrey Brink, Chris Duty, Daniel Freitas, Evan Gross and Damien Pulley.

OSU students Lucas Brown, Robbie Mize, Jason Powell, Blain Rennels, Elijah Thibodeau and Chad Walker formed the mechanical team as OSU captured its third straight (fourth overall) win in the category.

Meanwhile, OSU juniors Thomas Bancroft, Sarah Cochenour, Erik Green, Sarah Leads, Jeff Nakashima, Barret Neumayr and Patrick Van Epps led the school to a second-place finish in the ‘Determining Project Risk” competition.

OSU also fielded teams in commercial building, heavy civil and multi-use structures, rounding out an impressive showing by the school at the annual event.

The school’s participation at this year’s event was made possible through faculty and staff support in addition to the generous contributions from a number of industry partners.

The annual student competition, which features thousands of students from institutions in 13 states, is held by the ASC, the professional association for the development and advancement of construction education, where the sharing of ideas and knowledge inspires, guides and promotes excellence in curricula, teaching, research and service.