UT Tyler Students Build Concrete Canoe

It would seem like a canoe made of concrete wouldn't have a chance at floating. It would be so heavy it would sink, right?

Thanks to laws of physics that are way over my head, concrete canoes DO float, because the weight of the water displaced is equal to the weight of the the boat. Some UT Tyler students know all about that, and the canoe team there has placed in the top 15 nationally. Nice goin'!

The school says in a press release, the canoe team placed in the top 15 at this year’s American Society of Civil Engineering National Concrete Canoe Competition. The UT Tyler ASCE student chapter advanced to nationals by winning the 2012 Texas-Mexico Regional Concrete Canoe Competition with their entry, “Ace in the Hull.”

Participants build canoes with concrete and are judged in four categories: technical design report, oral design presentation, canoe final product and racing.

At nationals, UT Tyler topped Clemson University, Oregon State University and Louisiana Tech University, among others.

UT Tyler junior Michael Lisk of Houston was a team captain. Other team captains were seniors Jeremy Orr of Mount Enterprise, Chris Wall of Marietta, Joseph Hornisher of Denton and Art Reilly of Tyler.

Other students representing UT Tyler were:

•Seniors: Jared Kowis of Pearland, Michelle Holloman of Big Sandy, Neda Hosseiny of Dallas, Jennifer Moore of League City, Theodore Booth of Garland, Justin Nesmith of Wylie, Jesus Morteo of Pinehurst and Randy Taylor of Henderson.

•Juniors: Jennifer King of Victoria, Alex McMillan of Palestine, James Mitchell of Overton, Austin Sparks of Mount Vernon, Marco Weidmer of Hallsville and Tyler Richards of Tyler.

•Sophomores: Bobby Fuller of Longview and Erin Hostetler of Austin.
Currently serving more than 125 students, the UT Tyler Department of Civil Engineering offers both bachelor of science and master of science in civil engineering degrees.