The University of New Orleans played host to the 2024 Gulf Coast American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Symposium for civil engineering students from 15 universities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama on March 7-9. It was the first time UNO has hosted the event since 2010, said Gianna Cothren, UNO professor of civil engineering and ASCE faculty adviser.

“We had approximately 400 participants, guests, and host personnel at our event from Thursday through Saturday,” Cothren said. “Everyone did an amazing job.”

Although UNO’s concrete canoe teams didn’t earn a spot in the national competition, the University’s Geo-Wall team won first place, Cothren said. It was their first time competing.

The Geo-Wall competition requires students to design and build a model mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall that is used to reinforce and support soil structures. Students had to build a three-sided wall model that could be used as a support for bridge abutments.

“Their team is very young in that they've not taken the courses needed for this project, but they got together with myself and the geotechnical adjunct professor for a quick overview and guidance,” Cothren said. “I am very proud of this team.”

Regional Geo-Wall winners do not advance to a national competition.   

Meanwhile, UNO’s steel bridge team earned second place and will be invited to compete in the national competition which will be held at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana on May 31-June 1.

“Nationals will be held at Louisiana Tech this year and UNO intends to beat Auburn who only slightly bested them at regionals,” Cothren said. “It was mostly due to construction speed which can be improved tremendously between now and then.”

The three-day regional event is the largest gathering of engineering universities and features innovative engineering competitions that included a concrete canoe race, construction of a steel bridge and opportunities to learn more about the engineering industry.

“It’s an opportunity to bring the regional civil engineering community together, both professionals and students, other colleges and other schools,” said Lizette Chevalier, dean of the Dr. Robert A. Savoie College of Engineering. “It’s just an amazing event for students to test their teamwork, their design abilities and their build abilities.”

The Gulf Coast ASCE region is on a rotation schedule in which all 15 civil engineering programs get the opportunity to host or co-host the student symposium.

“We gladly accepted this monumental task because it means so much to us to be recognized among the giant schools like Auburn, University of Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and others,” Cothren said. “We are certainly a small group, but we are at the top when it comes to performance. Our local industry knows how great civil engineering students at UNO are already. Now everyone will know.”

The outdoor symposium events that were held in UNO’s University Center parking lot and along the banks of Bayou St. John in New Orleans held a festive air, despite the competitions. Students and their families relaxed in lawn chairs or sat in the grass as music blared out over the bayou from nearby speakers. Other students played toss-across games or tossed balls in between the competition.

“I’m feeling really good, we’ve been practicing,” said UNO student Amanda Darda, who was part of the concrete design, construction, and race teams.

Surrounded by family, Darda had her very own cheering section: Her dad, Herb Darda Jr., who earned a degree in computer science from UNO, was joined by her sister Amy Darda, who also attends UNO and her grandparents, Herb and Trudy Darda.

“I was born in Lafitte; we know all about pirogues!” said Herb Darda Jr.

The symposium closed out Saturday with an awards banquet and a fais do-do festival at UNO’s amphitheatre.