(peaceful piano music)
- [Regina] We've been working on this competition
for an entire year,
and this is our biggest day.
- Although, you know, again,
heartbreaking that we won't be able to compete,
we still have our face paint on.
We're still cheering.
We have our music going.
We're just showing that we're still just happy to be here.
And although we can't race,
we're still proud of what we did
and the progress that we've made.
- [Man] Right here, hold.
Okay.
Right here, we have to start lifting.
At one, two, three, lift.
Okay, start walking.
Everybody get in line.
Everybody get in line, come on.
(sandpaper rubbing)
(peaceful acoustic music)
- Within the ASCE chapter,
there are a number of competitions
that the students can participate in,
and Concrete Canoe is one of those.
It's kind of a community.
The students feel like this is something
that they can be really proud of.
It's something that they can take
and compete with other universities
and demonstrate that Fresno State
is truly a competitive program.
- First of all, MidPac is amazing opportunity
for civil engineering students.
I have grown so much.
The hands-on experience alone is just,
it's hard to describe.
It's just so beneficial.
And then not having this would be like,
well, what do we just do, school?
Like, you know, this is a great hands-on experience.
- It's entirely independent
of their expectations for graduation.
All the work that they do
is above and beyond their coursework.
- So when I came to Fresno State,
I'd already heard about the Concrete Canoe Competition.
And I knew I wanted to be involved with that
just straight off the bat.
You learn so much that you just
can't learn in the classroom.
- Transferred to Fresno State,
didn't really know anybody,
became part of the canoe team,
and I've built lasting friendships,
you know, year after year
with some really great people,
really smart students.
And it's a good way to bring everyone together.
- This is only my second year involved,
though I wish I would've done more.
But last year I was the structural analysis
for the concrete canoe.
This year I was the mix design captain.
- We do have 10 captains all together,
but they can't cover everything.
And as project manager,
if there's something else that needs to be done
and no one else can do it,
I know that's my responsibility.
So that's a little bit stressful to know
that if the canoe succeeds,
it'll be because of the team,
but if the canoe fails,
well, yeah, that'll kind of be because of me.
That's my ultimate responsibility.
(team cheering)
This canoe project has been kind of the one stable thing
throughout my three years here.
And watching it grow throughout these past three years
has been incredible.
We do the best with what we have,
and I think we can do anything these other schools can do.
(uplifting piano music)
(team cheering and clapping)
- One of the problems that we've had
consistently with the canoe,
and that is really displayed this year,
is transporting the canoe to the competition.
And we've had lots of ideas to make this safer,
make it a better process,
just to keep the canoe safe during the ride,
but all these ideas are extremely expensive.
Fresno State is really good
at coming up with solutions to problems
that money would help.
We just have to be creative.
- Last year we had a crate
specifically built for our canoe.
It supported it really well,
and we would hope we'd be able to reuse it again this year.
But unfortunately, due the size changes
we made from last year,
it didn't really fit in that crate.
So we kind of made do with what we had,
kind of the shop using pieces from last year's crate.
- We believe that the straps were too tight,
and so whenever we hit the bump,
the canoe absorbed all of that force
and it ended up cracking.
Once you get one crack, foom, it just, it goes.
- We've been working on this competition
for an entire year,
and this is our biggest day.
We show off everything that we've been doing,
and there is no way that we were
going to leave that canoe in that trailer.
- When you can produce something
that you can be proud of,
that you show up and you can compete against Berkeley,
you can compete against UC Davis,
and I personally think that
we would have done that hands-down.
Yes, it broke.
But at the same time,
we're still proud of what we did
because we put in all this effort,
and we're not just going to back away and be like,
oh well, it failed.
You know, that's not how we do it here at Fresno State.
- Both the students and the dean
are making it their priority next year
to get a proper transportation system.
So we're hoping to get something like that
fabricated next year so that in the future,
our students won't have to worry about the transport.
- Every year, we get better.
Every year, we learn something new.
I feel better about it because I can know that next year,
because of the stuff that me and my team has went through,
next year we'll have a safe canoe.
- We're making big strides each year.
And yeah, we may be set back this year,
but it's gonna make us that much stronger next year.
So I hope to be there.
I'll be a mentor for any students that need some advice.
- I can help you.
I can run calculations.
I can come on the weekend.
I can be there for pour day.
I want to help.
Graduation won't stop me from being involved some more.