Biology

WKU civil engineering students competed in the Ohio Valley Student Conference March 29-31 at the University of Pittsburgh and finished first overall for the entire conference competition.

A total of 13 colleges and universities competed in civil engineering events.

In the concrete canoe competition, WKU finished second overall behind Youngstown State. The team placed third in oral presentation, second in final product, and second on the canoe report. In canoe races, WKU finished first in men’s distance; second in women’s distance and sprint; and third in men’s and coed sprint.

Professor Matthew Dettman, advisor to the concrete canoe team, said: “This is one of the best teams I have had the pleasure of working with. They brought a canoe that was outstanding and certainly capable of winning. Youngstown State was just terrific and our hats are off to the great job they did.”

Concrete canoe team members include: team captains Joshua Wells of Cincinnati and Jacob Merriman of Newburgh, Ind.; Luke Gilliam, Chris Higgins and Elizabeth Cardwell, all of Russellville; Russ Whatley of Louisville; Travis Christensen of Clarksville, Tenn.; Kendall McClenny of Orlando, Fla.; Nicole Johnson of Elkton; Benjamin Bell of Madisonville; Joshua Frost of Jamestown; Jonathan Truelove of Franklin; Aaron Dockery of Somerset; Chris Heil of Winchester; Anna Zhidkova of Russia; and Chase Fugate of Jackson.

In the steel bridge competition, WKU finished fourth overall behind Akron, Youngstown State and Louisville. The team constructed the bridge in the fastest amount of time of any school at the competition and with no construction errors.  In addition, the bridge was the lightest bridge at the competition.

Associate Professor Shane Palmquist, advisor to the steel bridge team, said: “I am really proud of the WKU Steel Bridge Team. The students designed and constructed an outstanding bridge that performed well at the competition.”

Steel bridge team members include: team captains Cody Stuart of Hanson and Kevin Hinson of Whitehouse, Tenn.; Rodney McGaughey, Jeremy Stauffer, Cody Napier and Jeremy Brown, all of Bowling Green; Marshall Henson of Burkesville; Zachary Neihof of Louisville; and Lacie Lawson of Glasgow.

WKU won the technical paper presentation for the sixth consecutive year. Aaron Daley of Louisville wrote and presented the winning paper on the topic of engineering and globalization.

Daley also participated in the environmental engineering competition with a device to treat water to remove barium and to reduce the turbidity (cloudiness) of the water.

In the sustainability competition, WKU finished third. The team members include Aaron Daley of Louisville; Aaron Dockery of Somerset; and Seth Dawson of Trenton.  The competition was to design a turbine to go into a water main to generate power when water was flowing.

In the AutoCAD competition, WKU finished third. The team members include Seth Dawson of Trenton; Dylan Jones of Berea; and Emily Kinslow of Cave City.

In the balsa wood bridge competition, WKU finished second for the second year in a row. The team members include Aaron Dockery of Somerset; Chris Heil of Winchester; and Dylan Ward of Hartford.

The surveying team ranked second overall for the second year in a row. The team finished second in two contest events (elevations and pacing) while finishing third in the angles contest. Team members are Robert Boarman of Bowling Green; Chad Grubb of Morgantown; Cory Jones of Berea; Dylan Jones of Berea; Steven Jones of Somerset; Jordan Keeney of Nancy; Trevor King of Derby, Ind.; Michael Pickett of Radcliff; Tyler Sheffield of Dry Ridge; and Michael Simpson of Glasgow.

In addition to WKU’s Department of Engineering, participating schools were Akron, Carnegie Mellon, Cincinnati, Cincinnati State, Cleveland State, Geneva College, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Youngstown State.

The 2013 Ohio Valley Student Conference will be held in Cleveland.

Contact: Engineering Department, (270) 745-4261.