csulb pswc newsletter
TRANSCRIPT
The Beach has arrived! ...To the 2015 Pacific Southwest Conference (PSWC) hosted by the University
of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. This three-day conference is fully loaded with civil engineering competitions,
sports and numerous activities ready to test the ingenuity and skills of eighteen schools in the South-
western U.S. region. Competing in the PSWC has been a time-honor tradition at CSULB. Every year we
are privileged with the efforts of ASCE members, support from our advisors and faculty and the college
of engineering to present our teams and projects. ASCE thanks all of our attendees for their commit-
ments and achievements during this conference. We are the few, the proud, the beach!
The Few, The Proud, The Beach!
A M E R I C A N
S O C I E T Y O F
C I V I L
E N G I N E E R S The Miner’s Report P A C I F I C S O U T H W E S T C O N F E R E N C E S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
Editor: Jocelyn Diaz
C A L I F O R N I A S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y , L O N G B E A C H
ASCE CSULB first year students at Silverbell Lake dur-ing the Concrete Canoe races. Photo Courtesy by Jess Gascon.
H O S T E D B Y U N I V E R S I T Y O F A R I Z O N A I N S I D E T H I S
S P E C I A L
I S S U E :
Dog House
Basketball
2
Environmental
Design
Surveying
3
Family Feud
Scavenger Hunt
4
Canoe and Bridge
Aesthetics
Mystery Event
5
Concrete
Bowling
Ultimate
Frisbee
6
Transportation
Design
Tug-of-War
7
Concrete Canoe 8
Steel Bridge 9
Soccer
Kan Jam
10
GeoWall
Competition
Impromptu
11
PSWC Awards
Banquet
12
Extra Photos 13
P A G E 2
Day one of PSWC began with the
beautiful sight of the first dog house con-
structed by CSULB ready to compete this
year. Team captain Jared Stankevich and his
team displayed a breathtaking model of a
lighthouse, a unique octagonal design that
was the catch of everyone’s eye. It was made
of reclaimed wood to maintain cost efficien-
cy, with an added water filtration system
using activated carbon pouches for easy
maintenance on the roof and two back win-
dows to help ventilation. All dog houses in
the competition will be donated to the local
shelters.
T H E
Dog House
CSULB Dog House project on day one of PSWC. Photo Courtesy by Jocelyn Diaz.
DAY 1
Scavenger Hunt
Dog House
Environmental
Design
Basketball
Surveying
Family Feud
Career Fair
Canoe
Presentations
Team: Jared Stankevich David Hannaford Larry Ngo Monic Sary Vivian Tang Jayson Musngi
Basketball
CSULB Basketball team bringing it in for their first game in the South Gym Recreational Center. Photo Courtesy by Yisak Kim.
Basketball Team: Jess Gascon Andrew Joseph Nikko Pajarilaga Candice Chong Tony Zavala Edward Vidal Ossama Ghanim Lee Heng Mehdi Hasan Brendan Sainz Russel Balan Marsalis Saafir Aum Ghandi Caleb Shen Kevin Guillen Nathan Mabin
It’s Basketball time! This year’s team implemented practices on a weekly basis
with improvement for skills set and drills each time. After weeks of practice games on
campus in the recreational center, it came down to play against the other universities at
PSWC. Confidence
and teamwork was on
their side, however
their first game was a
loss against Cal Baptist
University. There was
unfortunate injuries
and uncoordinated
plays during the game,
but the team played to
best of their abilities
and efforts. By this
time next year, the
team will make a
comeback at CSULB.
P A G E 3 P S W C : S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
CSULB’s Environmen-
tal design team got an early rise
on day one by showing their
display poster and water treatment
design. The purpose was to re-
move the chemical chromium-6
from a water source. The time-
frame was two hours to complete
it and provide the judges with one
gallon of treated water that met
EPA standards. With limited re-
sources on testing the chemical
before the conference, the team
still placed 7th in competition.
Environmental Design
CSULB Environmental team in the University of Arizona Mall, showcasing their project. Photo Courtesy by Jocelyn Diaz.
Team: Danny Mejia, Vivian Tang, Hernan Lozada, Cynthia Ra-mos, Luis Chavez, Precious Labre, Christina Negley and Rafael
Surveying
CSULB Surveying team beginning the first task in the com-petition. Photo Courtesy by Jocelyn Diaz.
The surveying competition took
off with the team’s first task of finding
bearings, elevations and distances on loca-
tion with a given benchmark. Then using
the benchmark, from the previous task, to
calculate the elevation of the flagpole be-
yond the location of the Arizona State
Museum. Finally, the last task was measur-
ing distances with a steel tape across the
field. With a time restriction of forty-five
minutes, team member Nick Cordtz com-
pleted the calculations on time in the sur-
veying field book. The team’s preparation
was unbelievable with weekly practices as
PSWC came closer.
Team: Mais Sagradyan Nick Cordtz Ammi Meza Jose Jimenez
P A G E 4
The last event of day one
came down to the Family Feud
competition. The quiz qualifying
rounds consisted of twenty-five
EIT-based questions with a re-
stricted time of forty minutes.
Soon after the quiz, the results
were in for CSULB to move to
the game in the afternoon. Each
game consisted of four rounds
with one school versus another
in the bracket provided. In the
progression to the top, the
team faced LMU, USC and UCI.
T H E M I N E R ’ S R E P O R T
Family Feud DAY 1
Scavenger Hunt
Dog House
Canoe/Bridge
Aesthetics
Environmental
Design
Basketball
Surveying
Family Feud
Career Fair
Canoe
Presentations
Team: Jocelyn Diaz Sajid Kanamya Corina Guevara Marissa Lomeli
The scavenger hunt was an
event for the entirety of con-
ference. The goal of each team
was to take and submit several
photos of themselves and
‘Long Beach State’ logos with
iconic and historic places
around the city of Tucson, in-
cluding the University of Ari-
zona. Clues on the scavenger
list included—”New building
on campus built to resemble a
canyon” and “Don’t get
pricked at this national park”.
This event is great for all at-
tendees to participate in.
Scavenger
Hunt
CSULB Family Feud team during the semi-finals in the DuVal Auditorium of the U of A Medical Cen-ter. Photo Courtesy by Jenny Sheng.
Team: Abagail See Jenny Sheng Jess Gascon Sonny Guzman Ossama Ghanim Jim Nguyen Aum Gandhi
CSULB first year student Sonny Guzman with the ‘Beardown’ statue. Photo Courtesy by Abigail See.
P A G E 5 P S W C : S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
Bridge and canoe aesthetics are seen the first day of the
competition and are examined closely by the conference judges.
Both projects include the project itself and a display board that goes
over the design purpose, the team involved, tactics and methods
involved in construction. Organization and clarity are essential for
the display boards to inform the judges of the work that went into
building the project. CSULB’s theme this year was Egyptian (as you
will see in all the projects). This year’s named concrete canoe—
Thutmose III— and bridge turned many heads during the aesthetics
judging. Aesthetics Captain Jenny Sheng, along with the rest of the
canoe team and more ASCE members, spent days and nights painting
the details and coats on the finished product as well as its display
board. After finishing the fabrication of the bridge, Captains William
Elder and Chris Sorensen decided to finish with a ‘raw’ look of the
steel and have a steel plate cut out with the schools name instead of
decals. Thank you to all who contributed to these finished projects!
So what’s the mystery you ask? A relay race
with multiple choice questions both technical and
trivial. After answering a question the team players
must run back to start and submit the answer. Then
they must roll a die to decide the manner of how
to run back to the team with a new question in
hand. The fun ways to run this race was by running
backwards, free running, running while balancing a
ping pong ball on a spoon, running with a ball be-
tween the legs, running with a hoola hoop and run-
ning around a baseball bat before arriving to the
rest of the team. The event was timed and there
was a thirty second penalty for every incorrect an-
swer that was submitted. Congrats to our team for
placing 2nd in the competition!
Mystery Event Team: Mais Sagradyan Candice Chong Jose Jimenez Nick Cordtz
Canoe and Bridge Aesthetics
CSULB playing the Mystery Event at Christopher Columbus Park. Photo Courtesy by Lauren Kil-roy.
CSULB displays of the Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge. Pho-to Courtesy by Jenny Sheng and Tammy Takigawa.
P A G E 6
Let’s take down some pins!
CSULB created bowling ball made
of a specially mixed concrete. A
basketball was used to make the
mold of the concrete and after
the thirty three-day cure of the
concrete, it was sanded down for
a smooth finish. During the com-
petition, several players had the
opportunity to play five frames
per game. The aesthetics of the
ball displayed a scarab beetle
from the ancient Egyptian culture.
The concrete bowling ball fin-
ished in 4th place overall.
T H E M I N E R ’ S R E P O R T
Concrete
Bowling DAY 2
Concrete
Canoe
Ultimate
Frisbee
Mystery Event
Concrete
Bowling
Tug of War
Transportation
Team: Marsalis Saafir Mais Sagradyan Lauren Kilroy Jared Stankevich Nathan Mabin Mario Martinez
Week after week CSULB’s Ultimate Frisbee team has
been practicing on the fields to get ready for this conference. In the morning of day
two, we gathered the team for additional practice and coaching from Captain Caleb Shen
before the first game of the morning. The team won the first game against CSUN and
moved the team up the bracket to play against UCLA in their second and last game. Top
scorers and players included Jared Stankevich, Jess Gascon and John Good. They played
their best and are one of the best teams we could have asked for!
Ultimate Frisbee Ultimate Frisbee Team: Caleb Shen Jess Gascon Jared Stankevich Gary Mao Monic Sary Danny Mejia Anthony Negrete Tony Zavala David Larry Ngo Russell Balan Lee Heng Nathan Mabin John Good Aum Ghandi Rafael Diaz Jairo Maldonado
CSULB Ultimate Frisbee Team after their last game at Christopher Columbus Park. Photo Courtesy by Jocelyn Diaz.
Jared Stankevich bowls the first game at Christopher Columbus Park. Photo Courtesy by Andrew Lam.
P A G E 7 P S W C : S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
This was CSULB’s first opportunity
to do the transportation design competition
at PSWC. The objective was to design a ru-
ral highway on a proposed site in the city of
Tucson, write a technical paper on the cho-
sen design and display a poster during the
competition. The design was to connect two
existing roads and present t he vertical and
horizontal alignments for the design. In addi-
tion, the design included calculations of the
speed limits that determine the pavement
design as well. Finally, the costs of material,
labor and traffic control were displayed.
Transportation
Design
Team: Larry Ngo David Hannaford Andrew Lam Chirath Karunathilake Roy Perez Vivian Tang
During the semester our
team held practices twice a week
leading up to the conference. The
rules required three men and wom-
en equally to be on the team. It was
not only strength but technique that
was essential for winning each match
against the eighteen schools. The
first tug-of-war game was against
USCD and was a victory for CSULB.
Moving up the bracket the team
went up against the University of
Arizona and played their last
game. Good job tug-of-war team!
Tug of War Team: Roy Perez Cody Dodge Abagail See Nancy Chhin Chirath Karunathilake Anthony Negrete Christina Negley
CSULB Transportation team after judging of their poster during the competition. Photo Courtesy by Roy Perez.
CSULB Tug-of-War team ready for the competition at Christo-pher Columbus Park. Photo Courtesy by Roy Perez.
P A G E 8
After a school-year’s worth of
work and hard efforts by the
canoe team, the Thutmose III
was able to make it to Tucson
for PSWC. An early Friday
morning at PSWC was the be-
ginning of the Concrete Canoe
T H E
Concrete
Canoe
DAY 2
Concrete Canoe Team: Andrew Lam Jess Gascon Jenny Sheng Roman Ramos Tammy Takigawa Hernan Lozada Candice Chong Tatiana Braun Michael VanWagoner Chirath Karunathilake Sajid Kanamya Ossama Ghanim Sonny Guzman Larry Ngo Nancy Chhin Corina Guevara David Aceves
Concrete
Canoe
Ultimate
Frisbee
Mystery Event
Concrete
Bowling
Tug of War
Transportation
CSULB Concrete Canoe Rowers at Silverbell Lake. Photo Courtesy by Ossama Ghanim.
CSULB Concrete Canoe team & cheering section at Silverbell Lake. Photo Courte-sy by Jess Gascon.
races at Silverbell Lake. After unloading the canoe and equipment for the day, the team be-
gan with the Swamp Test—a test consisting of filling the canoe with water and testing it’s
buoyancy. Passing that test was key for racing the canoes against the other universities. This
year’s rowers included Captain Tammy Takigawa, Hernan Lozada, Sonny Guzman, Candice
Chong, Michael VanWagoner, Tatiana Braun, Roman Ramos and Jenny Sheng. The team
raced a slalom/endurance, sprint and co-ed sprint races throughout the day. The competi-
tion was tough but this team paddled to the end with the cheering school behind them
every step of the way. With fierce competitors such as Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona,
this year’s canoe was able to place 4th in Final Product out of the eighteen schools in the
southwest.
Steel Bridge
Soccer
Impromptu
Technical
Presentations
Geotechnical
Wall
Kan Jam
Talent Show
Awards
Banquet
P A G E 9
P S W C : S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
Concrete Bowling
The last day of the
PSWC began with the
steel bridge competition.
From the early design to
the fabrication of the
bridge and a couple of
setbacks, the team
placed strong in several
Steel
Bridge
Steel Bridge Team: William Elder Chris Sorensen Nikko Pajarillaga Yisak Kim Orlando Terran Carl Sutherland Sergio Suarez Brendan Sainz Tatiana Braun Monic Sary Jocelyn Diaz Edward Vidal Daniel Saldana Katia Barbas Mehdi Hasan Andrew Joseph Denisa Budean Jayson Musngi
DAY 3
CSULB Steel bridge builders loading the bridge in the Park Avenue Garage. Photo Courtesy by ASCE L.A YMF.
CSULB Steel Bridge team after construction and load testing in the Park Avenue Garage. Photo Courtesy by Jayson Musngi.
categories. An early morning timed-construction placement for CSULB and multiple
practices on building the bridge motivated our builders to get ready, set and go. Con-
struction started in the staging yard of the construction layout with tools and bridge
members on the ground. When the clock starts, the builders—William Elder, Brendan
Sainz, Yisak Kim, Chris Sorensen, Daniel Saldana—pick up their tools, loose bolts and
nuts, members and run to the opposite end. After construction of the bridge, the team
carried the bridge over to the loading area. The maximum load of 2400 pounds was
placed on he bridge and was a success in sustaining the load. Only four our of seventeen
bridges passed the test in this year’s competition. Take that load long beach!
P A G E 1 0
On top of the previous
bracketed sports event at
PSWC, one of the last
ones the included soccer
competition. Finishing 4th
place, our soccer team
proved to be among the
best with fierce skills and
devoted practices. Zavala
blocked many shots penal-
ty shots in the early games.
Top scorers included Mi-
guel Bravo, Victor Aguirre,
Jairo Maldonado and Angel
Gonzalez. We’re proud of
the team for being tough
competitors!
T H E M I N E R ’ S R E P O R T
Soccer DAY 3
Steel Bridge
Soccer
Impromptu
Technical
Presentations
Geotechnical
Wall
Kan Jam
Talent Show
Awards
Banquet
During every break for big projects like
concrete canoe, steel bridge, dog house
and between classes, the Kan Jam teams
were ready to play games. The objective
of this event is to throw a disc to your
team member who stands fifty feet away
to score. If entered inside the slit of the
cylindrical tube, the game is an instant
win. After wining the games versus USC
and CSUN, the games grew more intense.
Last year’s PSWC placed our Kan Jam
team at 2nd place however this year was
a complete higher level of competence!
Congratulations to the team for brining
home 1st place!
Kan Jam Team: Monic Sary Jared Stankevich David Hannaford Justin Man Larry Ngo
CSULB soccer team gather for the toughest games played in Sitton Field. Photo Courtesy by Roy Perez.
Soccer
Team:
Miguel Bravo
Karlos Nava
Angel Gonzalez
Danny Mejia
Tammy Takigawa
Caleb Shen
Tony Zavala
Carlos Gutierrez
Victor Aguirre
Tatiana Braun
Michael VanWagoner
Jairo Maldonado
Roman Ramos
Mario Martinez
Nathan Mabin
Marsalis Saafir
CSULB Kan Jam team awaiting to go to the semifinals of the competition. Photo Courtesy by Sajid Kanamya.
P A G E 1 1 P S W C : S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
The geotechnical competition, or
‘GeoWall’, began on a late Saturday morn-
ing with the team displaying their poster to
the judges. The competition consists of
cutting strips of paper strategically to with-
stand the load of compacted soil in a box
created by the team. Strips of paper that
weigh the lightest and pass the compaction
stage are the top scorers of the competi-
tion. Our Geowall team’s final weight was
2.62 grams and while the wall still held the
weight of some of our team members, it
collapsed. Overall the team placed 8th in
the conference.
Geo Wall Competition Team: Ruta Bandziulis Andrew Sover Lee Heng Cody Dodge Rami Sarakbi Gina Wynn
Similar to the Mystery Event, the Im-
promptu event is a test of creative brilliance
among the teams. This year’s activity was to
make a free-standing structure made out of
newspaper and masking tape with the smallest
area, yet big enough to house three individuals. In
addition to those rules, the structure was not
allowed to have right (90°) angles and uphold
geometric measurements of different shapes..
The team had fifteen minutes to set up and forty-
five minutes to build. The judging was based on
the perimeter and height, use of paper and tape
and the creativity and presentation of the struc-
ture overall. Congrats to our Impromptu team
for placing 2nd among the schools overall!
Impromptu Team: Mais Sagradyan Ammi Meza Nick Cordtz Lauren Kilroy
Lauren Kilroy sits inside the Impromptu structure at Arizona State Museum. Photo Courtesy by Abi-gail See.
CSULB GeoWall team and their display poster for the competition at the Alumni Plaza. Photo Courtesy by Sajid Kanamya.
P A G E 1 2
The PSWC Awards Banquet was held at the Pima Air and Space Museum to cele-
brate the competition of all the ASCE chapters in the southwestern region. With a beautiful
venue, attendees were able to explore the hanger and the bigger aircrafts behind the hanger
itself. CSULB brought several awards home and are prepared to keep progressing in their
projects for next year’s PSWC. ASCE thanks all of our attendees, faculty and staff and we
are proud to announce our improvement in placing No. 7 overall for the PSWC. Go Beach!
T H E
PSWC Awards BanquetPSWC Awards BanquetPSWC Awards Banquet PSWC
AWARDS
CSULB celebrates with all the PSWC attendees at the Pima Air and Space Mu-seum. Photo Courtesy by Jenny Sheng.
Kan Jam:
1st place
Impromptu:
2nd place
Mystery
Event:
2nd place
Family Feud:
2nd place
Steel Bridge:
2nd place—
Display
2nd place—
Stiffness
3rd place—
Construction
Speed
(Group photo above) ASCE CSULB chapter with the U.S. Navy Grumman F11F Tiger at the Pima Air and Space Muse-um. Photo Courtesy by Jocelyn Diaz.
P A G E 1 3
P S W C : S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
Concrete Bowling PSWC 2015 is Complete! DAY 3
That’s All Folks!
A special thank you from ASCE to our 2015 PSWC
Co-Conference Chairs: Mais Sagradyan and Lauren
Kilroy for all their hard work in effective planning
and execution of this year’s conference at the Uni-
versity of Arizona!