Concrete Canoe
Mid-Pac Champions!
Four Consecutive Years (2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026). The quest for the 5th star begins.
Go Bears!
What is Mid-Pac?
The ASCE Mid-Pacific Student Symposium, commonly known as Mid-Pac, is an annual gathering of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapters from across Northern California. Hosted by a different member university each spring, it is one of 18 ASCE regional conferences held across North America.
Midpac is far more than a meeting; it is a multi-day symposium of learning, leadership, and rigorous technical competition. For over half a century, it has provided a platform for engineering students to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world challenges, fostering ingenuity, collaboration, and professional development.
The ASCE Mid-Pacific Region includes 12 universities from Northern California. In 2027, the ASCE Mid-Pac Student Symposium will be hosted by California State University, Fresno!
The Concrete Canoe competition
The ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition is the “America’s Cup of Civil Engineering.” It challenges students to design and construct a seaworthy canoe from an unexpected material: concrete. The core engineering problem is paradoxical: how to make a composite material that is typically dense and weak in tension float and compete with high-speed hydrodynamics.
A successful Concrete Canoe team must master multiple disciplines, from structural analysis and innovative material science to hydrodynamic modeling and efficient construction management. The year-long project culminates at Mid-Pac, where the canoe is judged in four crucial, equally weighted categories:
- Technical Design Paper: A comprehensive 10-page technical document detailing the engineering analysis, sustainable design, project management, and the unique concrete mix design.
- Oral Presentation: A 5-minute professional presentation where team members defend their design, fabrication, and financial decisions before a panel of industry judges, followed by a live question-and-answer session.
- Final Product: The physical canoe and its display. It is judged on visual appeal, conformity to strict dimensions and rules, workmanship, and the creativity of its theme integration. This also includes a cross-section of the hull, showing the layered reinforcement and concrete.
- Racing: The ultimate test. Teams compete in 200m sprints and a 400m endurance race, with separate events for Men’s, Women’s, and Co-Ed (4-person) paddlers. Speed, maneuverability, and durability are paramount.
