Florida Tech Wins Third Overall at 2009 Civil Engineering Regional Competition

MELBOURNE, FLA. — The Florida Institute of Technology student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Concrete Canoe team has placed third
overall at the 2009 ASCE Southeast Student Conference in Nashville, Tenn. The regional contest consisted of 14 civil engineering events, including Steel
Bridge, Surveying, and Professional Paper competitions.

The Florida Tech Concrete Canoe team, led by Troy Dudich, Mike DePaolo and Priyanka Prakash, brought home six trophies with their 20-foot long, 245-pound,
self buoyant canoe, the Royal Panther.

The men’s sprint team of Dudich and Mike Matern finished first, while the women’s sprint team of Prakash and Aurora Jover finished second. Both the co-ed
four-person sprint team of Dudich, DePaolo, Jover and Prakash and the women’s distance team of Prakash, Jover and Ashley Chastain finished third.
Additionally, a technical paper written about the canoe placed second.

In 21 years of ASCE national competition, Florida Tech is the only private university to win first in the nation. This was in 1997. Also unusual for the
Florida Tech team is that it includes freshmen and sophomores.