About the Chapter
Students (and their Seismic Tower!) pose with guest speakers Judd and Liz Galloway after a Chapter Meeting
Since its inception in 1950, the American Society Civil Engineers (ASCE) Student Chapter at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been a highly involved and integrated organization – a cornerstone of the civil engineering experience. UMass Amherst ASCE hosts monthly chapter meetings, open to students of all majors, where students engage with professional engineers from both industry and academia.
UMass Amherst ASCE also organizes three design-build projects: the Seismic Tower, the Concrete Canoe, and the Steel Bridge. All three of these projects are year-long efforts that incorporate design and modeling skills with fabrication and construction techniques. While each are ambitious undertakings that seek to overcome a technical set of problems under a given set of code requirements, each project is also accessible to younger students who may lack the technical background. These projects foster teamwork and communication across the disciplines and grade levels, giving some students positions of leadership, while affording others the opportunity to develop their design skills. Most importantly, it translates the theory of the classroom into a tangible reality as students design the projects and bring them to fruition as fully fabricated structures that are tested against other university’s projects at national and regional competitions.
UMass Amherst ASCE also organizes three design-build projects: the Seismic Tower, the Concrete Canoe, and the Steel Bridge. All three of these projects are year-long efforts that incorporate design and modeling skills with fabrication and construction techniques. While each are ambitious undertakings that seek to overcome a technical set of problems under a given set of code requirements, each project is also accessible to younger students who may lack the technical background. These projects foster teamwork and communication across the disciplines and grade levels, giving some students positions of leadership, while affording others the opportunity to develop their design skills. Most importantly, it translates the theory of the classroom into a tangible reality as students design the projects and bring them to fruition as fully fabricated structures that are tested against other university’s projects at national and regional competitions.
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In addition to campus-based events and design teams, UMass Amherst ASCE also regularly schedules engineering and labor services with local partners. In the past, UMass Amherst ASCE has built bike paths with the Town of Amherst, laid rail tracks with the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, and built houses with Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity.
Diversity Statement
The UMass ASCE Student Chapter is eager to unify a diverse array of people able to introduce new ideas and keep us innovative. We encourage people of any gender, culture, race, religion and sexual orientation to embrace their identity and bring it to the team. UMass ASCE thoroughly and utterly rejects any and all efforts to exclude or dishearten members of our club or our community. In these turbulent times, we stand by the strong compass of morality that has never failed this organization or the hard working students who participate therein. Peace always prevails.
ContactLike what you see? To learn more about UMass Amherst ASCE and find out how you can be involved, please contact:
Sam Schmitt, Chapter President sschmitt@umass.edu Bridget Murphy, Vice President bridgetm@umass.edu |
Students volunteer with Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity
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