Trine wins ASCE regional competition

VALPARAISO, Ind. — Students from Trine University’s chapter of the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) took top honors at the organization’s 2019 Great Lakes Regional Conference held at Valparaiso University on April 12-13.

The Great Lakes Region includes 450 students from 18 ASCE student chapters in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Purdue, Notre Dame, Rose Hulman and Northwestern are among the schools that competed in events related to civil engineering.

Trine finished in first place overall. Individual event finishes included:

• First place in the “Sustainable Solutions” competition. Team members included Catherine Webb, a senior from Okemos, Michigan; Aaron (Jackson) Huckeby, a freshman from Freeland, Michigan; David Gaff, a senior from Bristol, Indiana; and Scott Beckmann, a junior from Auburn, Indiana.
• First place in “Concrete Cornhole” competition. Team members included Gaff; Ben Bellestri, a senior from Clarkston, Michigan; Beckmann; and Ashton Benson, a sophomore from Delaware, Ohio.
• Fourth place in the concrete canoe competition. Team members included Calvin Rizzo, a junior from Fishers, Indiana; Matt Baker, a sophomore from Green Springs, Ohio; Kristen Nguyen, a sophomore from Locust Grove, Georgia; Quinten Prieur, a freshman from Constantine, Michigan; Alex Duran, a junior from Van Buren, Ohio; Lucas Jackson, a freshman from Valparaiso, Indiana; Webb; Gaff; and Erik Konermann, a senior from Brownsburg, Indiana.
• Second place in the ASCE “Blue Sky” competition. Team members included Duran; Korrenn Broaddus, a senior from South Bend, Indiana; and Taylor Eash, a senior from Shipshewana, Indiana.
• Second place in “Transportation Design” competition. Team members included Katelyn Tedder, a junior from Indianapolis; Caitlin Muhlenkamp, a junior from South Bend, Indiana; Robert Morehouse, a junior from Mentone, Indiana; Mike Cunningham, a junior from Elkhart, Indiana; Jackson; Gaff; and Morgan Sapara, a senior from Yorkton, Saskatchewan.

Because of their top finishes in “Sustainable Solutions” and “Blue Sky,” Trine University teams will participate in the national competitions for these events, which will be held in Melbourne, Florida, from June 6-8.

Other competitions included wooden bridge, technical paper, geotechnical design, materials design, quiz bowl and mystery design.

Rebecca Goll, a senior from Hobart, Indiana, Logan Gonya, a junior from Angola, Indiana, and Micah Maxson, a freshman from Fort Wayne, Indiana, also competed in events for Trine.