Cal Poly SLO Makes Concrete Canoe History

The California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Concrete Canoe Team paddled into first place in the 2022 ASCE Society-Wide Concrete Canoe Competition June 3^rd through 5^th at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA. The first-place finish makes Cal Poly SLO the winningest team in the history of the competition.

Cal Poly’s victory is the school’s sixth championship, besting the five-win totals of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Heather Migdal, Cal Poly SLO senior construction manager and paddler, was ebullient about her team’s performance. “I’m so happy. And I’m so proud of our team for being able to break this record and have the most all-time wins.”

“We have such a small team, only eight people this year. Other schools are coming in with 30 people on their roster. We’re small in numbers, but we’re tight-knit.”

The Cal Poly SLO team knew they were in good shape after sweeping the races on Sunday, but what sealed the deal was winning the technical proposal and technical presentation categories, and claiming the R. John Craig Legacy Award.

“It comes from all that knowledge being transferred down,” Migdal said. Cal Poly’s earlier  canoe crowns were earned in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, and 2018. “We’re still in contact with alumni from those teams. They started the legacy, and we’re honored and proud to continue it, and look forward to winning first place again.”

Other notable winners in the concrete canoe competition were NYU–Tandon, Western Kentucky, Lipscomb University, Universite Laval, and Youngstown State University.

In addition to the annual concrete canoe competition, the weekend featured the ASCE Sustainable Solutions Competition – Tiny House Challenge, along with the debut of the ASCE Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute Surveying Competition.

The Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico earned first place in the Sustainable Solutions Competition, followed by UCLA in second and Zhejiang University in third.

Colorado School of Mines earned the overall title in the Surveying Competition, with Cal Poly Pomona in second, and George Mason University in third.

Congratulations to the Cal Poly SLO Team and to all of the engineering students from around the world who participated in this year’s competition, the first in-person ASCE event since 2019.