BSC Student Team Takes Part in Nine College ASCE Competition
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Chapter at Bluefield State College recently participated in the ASCE Virginia’s Conference Student Symposium and Competition at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA. Bluefield State College students placed second in the Surveying category.
The Virginia’s Student Conference is comprised of nine schools, including Bluefield State College, Marshall University, Fairmont University, West Virginia University, WVU-Institute of Technology, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, Old Dominion University, and VMI.
Daniel Copper, a BSC Civil Engineering Technology senior, noted, “As Bluefield State students, it’s a real eye opener to see how our degree performs against larger colleges like Virginia Tech, VMI, and WVU. Our Civil Engineering Technology program starts with the basics and develops our knowledge and ability gradually.”
“Our surveying department starts with manual surveying equipment and techniques, then wraps up the industry’s cutting-edge equipment,” he continued. “This developed our team’s the competitive edge required to place second in this regional event.”
Dr. Kerry Stauffer, Bluefield State Civil Engineering Technology professor and BSC ASCE Faculty Advisor, observed, “This year’s surveying competition provided our students an excellent opportunity to demonstrate their classroom knowledge and the hands-on laboratory experience to solve some spatial problems by using traditional surveying methods since no electric equipment was allowed, per the rules of the competition.”
“While modern surveyors often use many electronic devices, it was interesting to watch our young surveyors and engineers solve problems by using fundamental surveying methods, math and ‘good old fashioned’ cognitive problem-solving skills,” Dr. Stauffer added. “I’m very proud of our group. They represented the school very well and again demonstrated that they can compete at the regional level with larger institutions.”
