UNLV students race concrete canoe

Engineers of tomorrow spend full year constructing 20-foot, 200-pound vessel that floats

special to viewUNLV engineering graduate student Vik Sehdev stands next to Scarlet Fever, UNLV’s entry in an April 9 intercollegiate concrete canoe competition at Lake Mead’s Boulder Beach. Advertisement

Students at the UNLV College of Engineering caught "Scarlet Fever" this year, and they want to share it with you.

The students were put to the test this month when a project they'd been working on all year came to a head. It all went down at Boulder Beach on Lake Mead April 9, when students from 17 different universities gathered to see who would come out on top in a concrete canoe competition.

Each year during the American Society of Civil Engineers Pacific Southwest Regional Conference, engineering students gather to compete in the event. Most teams work on their canoes year-round. The participants are required to design and build a usable canoe out of concrete that is tested in a slew of races on judgment day.

UNLV's canoe, Scarlet Fever, measured 20 feet in length and weighed 200 pounds. Scarlet Fever competed against canoes made by students from other universities in Nevada, Arizona, California and Hawaii, including California State University, Los Angeles; California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo; the University of Southern California; University of California, Los Angeles; and University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Vik Sehdev is a UNLV engineering graduate student who participated in the event during his undergraduate career at the school.

"The main purpose of the events is to get you working with your industry," Sehdev said.

While preparing their canoe, students must stick to a budget, remain within the confines of allowable building materials and manage their time and money wisely. All the money used is raised by students.

"How do you make concrete float?" Sehdev asked.

Through design and planning, students attempt to answer that question. They also have to race the boat in the water when it's finished. To prepare, a team of paddlers practices year-round in other canoes.

The competition itself was designed to give students a chance to gain hands-on experience in project management and concrete-mix design and drive awareness about the civil engineering profession. Teams are judged on the outcome of the races, aesthetics, a technical paper and a technical oral presentation.

"You have to be creative and think outside the box," Sehdev said. "We don't do just roads and buildings."

Race day is a big party resembling spring break, with students running around in swimwear, sunglasses and flip-flops. However, it also is an academic event that students take seriously.

In fact, Sehdev said students wait in line to take over once they are seniors and train on the team from the time they are freshmen. Brooklyn Buzzone is a UNLV junior who transferred from the University of Nevada, Reno, where she was a rower on the school's canoe team. She said she's learned team management concepts and how to apply lessons from the classroom to life.

"I can better understand classwork," Buzzone said. "In the end I'm going to be working out in the force and not in a classroom."

UNLV's canoe is a work in progress from three years ago, when it weighed 700 pounds. Sehdev said it took 20 people to carry it.

"This year, it's a huge leap," Sehdev said. 'This canoe is three years in the making. We're not a canoe manufacturer. We make one canoe all year."

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo was the winner of the competition. UNLV tied for fourth place with California State University, Fullerton in race points and placed eighth in the Final Product standings that took into account the design paper and oral presentation scores.

Contact View education reporter Laura Emerson at lemerson@viewnews.com or 380-4588.