NEW ORLEANS — An anticipated 300 engineering students from 15 universities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have gathered in New Orleans this weekend for the 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers Gulf Coast Student Symposium.
The three-day event runs Thursday through Saturday and features innovative engineering competitions, including concrete canoe races and a steel bridge competition.
Competitors in the canoe races participated in a swamp test on Thursday to see if their cement canoes can float and qualify to participate in Friday’s event, which starts at 8 a.m. on Bayou St. John behind the New Orleans Youth Study Center (1100 Milton Street).
"Actually, engineering is so exciting. We're not boring," said Lucas Trinh, a senior Civil Environmental Engineer student at UNO. "We are actually fun because, hey, look at this concrete is slow. The steel bridge. It's light. Hey, well, here we go. We're gonna prove to you that we all find when we are not boring."
Trinh is a second-year captain of the Privateers concrete canoe, and his brothers also take part in the event, including younger brother Duc Trinh, who leads the steel bridge team.
Older brother Gavin Trinh was a member of UNO’s 2023 steel bridge team led by Yelitza Cedeño.
That team won the ASCE Gulf Coast regional competition in Mobile, Ala., and advanced to nationals.
This year, the steel bridge competition will be held on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the University Center parking lot.
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