Bowling Green senior and civil engineering major Noelle Buhay paddles across a small lake during the concrete canoe practice row at Basil Griffin Park in Bowling Green. (Photo by Caden Rich)

From the magazine: Innovative minds

From the outside, anyone passing by the Engineering and Biological Sciences building glimpses nothing but its exterior. One cannot witness the ongoing construction in the building’s inner belly. Those with a surface-level understanding of engineering may not understand the inventiveness these projects require or the camaraderie student engineers experience as a result.

“We’re all kind of like-minded,” said Russellville senior Nathan Cates, captain of the steel bridge building team. “We all wanted to do this project, and I think we’ll get really close over these next two semesters. I think those are some friendships and memories that will last forever.”

Civil engineering students Mitchell Johnson (from front), Laken Moffitt and Dylan Jackson practice their paddling skills for the concrete canoe competition on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at Basil Griffin Park. (Photo by Caden Rich)
Meaghan Czarnecki, a Georgetown senior and civil engineering major, works on her team’s concrete canoe in the engineering lab on Friday, Sept. 22. Czarnecki was a part of the team that competed in June at the ASCE Civil Engineering Student Championships at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. (Photo by Lauren Howe)
A concrete canoe team member uses a pair of pliers to clean up a concrete canoe on Friday, Sept. 22. There are various teams within the concrete canoe project: a pouring team, a safety team and a row team. (Photo by Lauren Howe)

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Plaques of previous awards hang on the wall in the WKU civil engineering department on Friday, Sept. 22. The department won the American Society of Civil Engineering Distinguished Chapter Award for its region in 2023. (Photo by Caden Rich)
our canoes that previously won national titles sit on display in the Engineering and Biological Sciences Building. The canoe team worked in the lab, creating 13 concrete mixes and a mold for this year’s canoe. (Photo by Lauren Howe)
Luke McElroy, a senior from Madisonville in the engineering program, makes adjustments to his team’s steel bridge design on Friday, Sept. 22. Each team must develop a concept for a scale-model steel bridge to span roughly 20 feet and carry 2,500 pounds according to the American Society of Civil Engineers competition rules. (Photo by Lauren Howe)
Seniors Will Pemberton (from left), Justin Elms, Luke McElroy and Bradley Herman work together on their steel bridge design on a computer in the Engineering & Biological Sciences Building on Friday, Sept. 22. (Photo by Lauren Howe)
Engineering student Luke McElroy shows a printed demonstration of the bridge that he is working on with the WKU steel bridge team on Wednesday, Sept. 13. (Photo by Caden Rich)

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