Florida Tech’s American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Chapter showcased its skills at the 2025 ASCE Southeast Student Symposium, March 6-8 at the University of Georgia. Competing against 18 other universities and chapters from across Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico, Florida Tech’s team participated in seven competitions and delivered a strong performance highlighted by a first-place finish in the UESI (Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute) Surveying Competition.
The annual symposium brought together more than 600 students for a weekend of competition, professional and personal development opportunities, networking and fun as a celebration of civil engineering and the ASCE community.
Beginning in the summer of 2024, Florida Tech’s chapter began preparing for the symposium, dedicating significant time to the concrete canoe and surveying competitions.
The concrete canoe competition, a highlight of the symposium, required teams to design, construct and race a canoe made of concrete. This challenge tested students’ ability to create a functional, buoyant structure while applying their knowledge of concrete mix designs and project management.
Constructing the canoe was an extensive process that involved meticulously mixing concrete, building a mold, pouring the concrete and refining the final design.
“We spent all year preparing for the symposium—we even worked during the summer. It’s a lot of work over a long period of time. For concrete canoe, there’s the written proposal, the construction of the canoe, the formal presentation and the performance demonstration. We work on all of it for nearly the entire year until it’s complete,” said Callie Siering, a construction management senior and chapter president.
Florida Tech’s canoe, affectionately named the “Cornoe” for its corn-themed design, earned third place in the Concrete Canoe Slalom for both the men’s and women’s races.
The chapter’s standout performance in the UESI Surveying Competition earned a first-place finish and a trip to nationals in June. The competition required students to use surveying tools and techniques to complete topographic mapping projects and field exercises simulating real-world civil engineering challenges.
The chapter also secured top 10 finishes in the geo-wall, T-shirt, paper and mystery competitions. This year’s mystery competition was pickleball.
Florida Tech professor Paul Cosentino has served as the chapter’s faculty advisor for more than 30 years. Under his leadership, Florida Tech has won the National Concrete Canoe Competition—the only private university to accomplish the feat—hosted the event twice, qualified for nationals eight times and established an endowment for the student chapter in honor of late alumnus Eric Primavera ’92, ’95 M.S. Today, Cosentino remains heavily involved in the chapter and is key to its continued success.
“Being the ASCE advisor has been very rewarding—from the time Ed Kalajian and I worked together until now,” Cosentino said. “This service portion of my job allows me to get to know the students and better understand how to teach and mold them. Our students are so passionate and are so much fun to interact with. When outside people meet them, they all say how impressed they are with our students. It is something I have witnessed at every level of interaction.”
For Siering, the symposium marked a bittersweet milestone. As she prepares to graduate, she reflected on how ASCE shaped her college experience.
“I never knew from the beginning how much I would love doing this. I’ve changed so much thanks to ASCE. This has been my life for four years,” Siering said. “I will always hold it near and dear to my heart.”
Team Members
Concrete Canoe: Brynn Romberger, Callie Siering, Jude Syriac and Alex Tremblay
Geo-wall: Vamshi Bhukya, Hemanth Gunduboina and Mahima Katta
Mystery: Alex Knodel and Victoria Whitbeck
Paper: Romberger
Survey: Shaisha James, Knodel, Maja Malarz, Veronica Montero-Sanchez, Sophia Sichtnik and Raelyn Stewart
T-shirt: James, Knodel, Malarz, Montero-Sanchez, Sichtnik, Siering, Syriac and Whitbeck
