Civil engineering students ready to make waves with concrete canoe

The 2010 University of Akron Concrete Canoe Team crafted its 2010 watercraft, “Lockkeeper,” during the American Society of Civil Engineers’ annual concrete pour on Saturday, Jan. 30 at UA.

Led by team captain Dan Bender, a civil engineering junior from North Royalton, and team co-captain Joe Morris, a civil engineering senior from Spencer, the team used basalt fiber-reinforced concrete, for the first time, to the reduce the potential for cracking. Morris says the team placed strong emphasis on creating a mold precisely within the competition’s dimensional restraints while utilizing recycled aggregates to help minimize its carbon footprint. For a finishing touch, Lockkeeper is accented with a decorative inlay that pays tribute to the Ohio & Erie Canalway.

“The team chose this theme to embody the goal we set this year: progress,” Morris explains. “Just as the canal ushered in change and growth to Akron, the team set out to change and enhance the methods we utilized to construct our canoe."

Lockkeeper will compete against other “lightweight concrete” canoes created by civil engineering student teams from Ohio State, Youngstown State, University of Dayton, Western Kentucky University, University of Toledo, University of Pittsburgh, Cleveland State University and others in April at the University of Kentucky. In this regional competition, canoes will be judged for their racing performance, aesthetics, design and other attributes.

Qualifiers move on to a national competition in June at San Luis Obispo, Calif.

“The University’s civil engineering students have an excellent track record of performance in the concrete canoe competition, always placing among the top four teams regionally,” says Dr. George Haritos, dean of the UA College of Engineering. “This year’s team, with their innovative approach to materials selection and design, will once again represent UA’s College of Engineering students well.”

About The University of Akron College of Engineering
The UA College of Engineering is the fourth fastest growing college of engineering in the country (among the 150 largest; source: American Society for Engineering Education) and the fastest growing in the state. The college’s current 2,042 undergraduate enrollment represents a 54.9 percent increase in enrollment between fall 2004 and fall 2009.

Media contact: Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@uakron.edu.