Photos courtesy ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition

First place winners, University of Nevada, Reno.

A fierce race pitted engineering students from across North America against each other in the National Concrete Canoe Competition. Held at the 21^st Annual National Conference of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), competing universities pushed their creative and physical limits while paddling in self-made boats of concrete.

The hosting school, École de tecnologie supérieure, of Montreal, Que., glided into third place, giving their American peers a splash of Canadian culture. The team forcefully pursued their frontrunners but were succeeded by the University of California, Berkeley, who bolted to the finish line second, with their 104-kg (229-lb) concrete vessel. Victoriously, the University of Nevada, came in first place and took home 'The America's Cup of Civil Engineering.' All teams were judged on:
• the race, both endurance and spirit;
• a technical design paper, highlighting the planning, development, testing, and construction of the canoe;
• a formal oral presentation, detailing design and innovative qualities; and
• a question and answer session, defending the team's choices.

Coming in third place, Canada's own École de technologie supérieure from Montreal.