ASCE students place at the ASCE Gulf Coast Symposium

Mississippi State’s American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter placed in five events at the ASCE Gulf Coast Symposium held at Auburn University.

The symposium, held in April, consisted of 15 universities from Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. The Mississippi State ASCE student chapter participated in seven events, placing in five, with two first place wins.

The ASCE student chapter is made up of students enrolled in the student competition course, GE 1501, taught by ASCE faculty advisor Thomas Lynn. Lynn, a civil and environmental engineering assistant clinical professor, became the advisor for the ASCE student chapter in 2021.

When asked about the students’ achievements at the Symposium, Lynn was proud of the work by the student chapter.

“This year, the students demonstrated how much you can achieve by combining teamwork with commitment. When we had our first preparatory Symposium meeting during the Fall Semester, I had a feeling most students did not think we had enough experience to compete in the Symposium,” Lynn said. “When the Symposium ended, we came away with places in multiple competitions and several students were already gearing up to come back and win the entire symposium next year.”

The ASCE chapter was led by president Xzavier Brown. Brown, a senior civil engineering major, helped lead the MSU team to success while also placing first in a solo competition.

“Xzavier Brown did excellent work in making this symposium a success. He had no prior experience participating at an ASCE Symposium and limited guidance outside from ASCE staff on how to manage the symposium in a leadership role, yet he still figured out how to pull it off,” Lynn said.  “I’m very proud of his efforts, not to mention his first-place finish in the Daniel W. Mead Professional Paper Competition.”

All of the MSU students who participated are enrolled in the Richard A. Rula School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. A list of competitions and students who competed includes:

Daniel W. Mead Professional Paper Competition:

1^st Place, Xzavier Brown

ASCE UESI Surveying Competition:

1^st Place, Jordan Cockrell, Grace Anne Copell, Peyton Joyner, John Regan, Landon Rhodes, Kylan Welford, Matthew White

Concrete Canoe Competition: 3^rd Place Final Product Prototype; 3^rd Place Co-ed Sprint Race; 3^rd Place Men’s Slalom

Xzavier Brown, B. Jackson Dew, Kennedy Ethridge, Perry Foster, Courtney Gill, Lauren Hammett, Anna Hughes, Olivia Keeter, Zachary Knuckey, Brady Neighbors, Kayson West

The surveying team that captured first place were also mentored by Hub King, a former faculty member in the Richard A. Rula School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.