BIT Students Representing India Section in NCCC – ASCE, in Florida, USA
BIT Students Representing India Section in NCCC – ASCE, in Florida, USA
American Society of Civil Engineering(ASCE)
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It represents more than 150,000 members of the civil engineering profession in 177 countries.
Through the expertise of its active membership, ASCE is a leading provider of technical and professional conferences and continuing education, the world’s largest publisher of civil engineering content, and an authoritative source for codes and standards that protect the public.
National Concrete Canoe Competition 2019
A Grand National concrete canoe competition (NCCC) is going to be organized by The American society of civil engineering (ASCE).
The Florida Institute of Technology Student Chapter will be hosting the 32nd Annual American Society of Civil Engineers National Concrete Canoe Competition. FC&PA is a gold sponsor of this 2019 ASCE event in Melbourne, FL.
For this competition, each of the participating teams needs to build their own canoe using concrete and ensure it remains sturdy, light in the water. This would mean providing students with a practical application of the engineering principles they learned in class and challenging the student’s knowledge, creativity and stamina while showcasing the versatility and durability of concrete as a building material. It demands meticulous planning, studying of various elements and innovation.
Bannari Amman Institute of Technology in NCCC
A team comprising of 40 civil engineering students from sathyamangalam, Bannari Amman Institute of technology designed a lightweight concrete boat that has 200kg weight. Normal boats are constructed with woods and fibre, the speciality of students innovation, it’s made up of concrete, the quality and the pricing is low when compared with the traditional model.
This innovation won first prize in the Indian Region Concrete Canoe Competition conducted by the American Society of Civil Engineers – Student Conference held at Mukesh Patel School of Engineering, Technology and Management, NMIMS University Mumbai. The team is going to represent ASCE – INDIA Section in the National Concrete Canoe Competition at Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA.
The 2019 ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition will be hosted by Florida Institute of Technology, on June 7-9, 2019. After a year of detailed planning and dedicated execution by each member of the team YALIVIL with 40 aspiring Civil Engineering undergrads, passionate about innovation and advancement in the evergreen field of engineering, from BIT participated and won the National level Canoe Competition and qualified for the NCCC 2019.
The entire exercise will be coordinated by the National Concrete Canoe Competition (NCCC) organizing by The American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE).
Challenges in Making Canoe
The primary objective of the structural analysis division was to ensure VEERALAI would withstand all reasonable loading scenarios. The team systematically worked for the development of canoe design. They built a lightweight concrete canoe. The process of building involves various technical and non-technical aspects.
The construction of a concrete canoe may hold one’s attention, but it comes with its own set of risks, interests, and challenges. The availability of the required material with the expected properties was the usual concern involved with the project. The results from the trial and error of hundreds of mixes might not give satisfactory results if not done carefully. The actual nature of the hull cannot be determined even with detailed and heedful structural calculations.
As a mixed team, they aimed to reduce the weight of the canoe, proper mix design and have to pass in the floatation test. Fourteen members were worked in the weighing of concrete mix, nine members worked in rolling and placing of concrete on the mould, while the remaining 15 members mixed and transported concrete from the mixing area to the canoe batching area.
However, the vehemence and the belief of the team helped to dodge the complications and came with the best solution for any problem.
Achievement of the Team Yalivil
Due to the innovative nature of VEERALAI’s design and construction, team leaders had developed and executed a precise project management scheme to meet the team’s quality, safety, financial, and sustainability objectives.
Throughout the project, the management team implemented good construction techniques to ensure efficient use of time and continual improvement in communication. Experienced veteran managers led the divisions to ensure quality and timely completion of delegated tasks. A team of 40 dedicated members designed and constructed VEERALAI in a total of 4080 man-hours.
The project managers established a detailed project schedule for VEERALAI to meet deadlines and complete the canoe within the specified time constraints. The team faced the critical path by identifying dependent tasks with the longest duration.
The critical path included mix design, construction, and finishing. Five milestones were identified for the project: final mix selection, hull design completion, analysis completion, canoe casting, and canoe finishing.
Even after variances from the project schedule, the team successfully cast the canoe before February end allowing it to cure before the competition commence. When the project variances affected the critical path, managers allocated additional team resources to recover time lost.
By improving management strategies, safety procedures, and funding efforts, the team completed the project on schedule and under budget.
Veeralai’s First Step
They began their journey with the Concrete Canoe Competition in VIT, Vellore and were given recognition of the YOUNG TALENT award.
The Veeralai has won first prize at a national level Concrete Canoe Competition conducted by the American Society of Civil Engineers – Student Conference held at Mukesh Patel School of Engineering, Technology and Management, NMIMS University Mumbai. Check out the clipping in The Hindu.
Expertise passed down from distinguished professors and fellow students have developed into a skill set necessary for success in the demanding engineering field. The team YALIVIL, with all mixed effort, crossed all the obstacles to participate in the canoe competition 2019 to go beyond expectations and win the American National Championship.
“We are a team not only because we work together, but we are also a team because we respect, trust and care for each other. We have achieved great accolades in our journey this far, and want to maintain this winning streak.”
-Team Veeralai
We dreamed, we practised, and we will win!
The secret in winning as a team is cooperation, coordination and hard work. Since these traits are seen in each and every member of the team Yalivil, there is no doubt that our BIT team will reach another great level of success in the future. Congrats to all the team members of Yalivil for their unparalleled contributions!!
Dreaming big becomes an addiction when there is a team of highly motivated members who are there to achieve it. This project would never be completed with a bunch of highly talented & inspiring team members like you.
Good luck to Veeralai on behalf of Bannari Amman Institute of Technology.