In 2022, a team of UB engineering students race acriss Lake LaSalle in a canoe made entirely of concrete.
Every year, a team of UB engineering students does what appears impossible: races across a lake in a canoe made entirely of concrete. As members of UB’s American Society of Civil Engineers, a team of students takes part in the annual competition, going toe-to-toe against schools across the region. In April 2023, they won the regional competition for the first time in club history and later placed fifth at national level.
The team of engineering students spent months making material and fabrication enhancements to a previously successful 2022 canoe design. They also practiced their paddling skills by taking the canoe out onto Lake LaSalle every few days to improve their sprint and slalom times.
The UB team’s travel and participation in the Concrete Canoe Competition, as well as another coveted program, the ASCE’s Student Steel Bridge Competition, are made possible through donor gifts like those made by Larry Mathews, BS ’69, who also serves as a mentor to student builders.