Auburn Engineering ASCE student chapter takes first place at Gulf Coast Symposium
Published: Apr 21, 2026 9:25 AM
By Rachel Wingard
Members of Auburn Engineering's American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter pose during the 2026 Gulf Coast Symposium in Tuscaloosa, where the team won first place overall.
Auburn Engineering’s student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) won first place overall at the ASCE Gulf Coast Symposium, held in Tuscaloosa March 12-14. With this year’s victory, the Auburn team has now won first place at the annual symposium four out of the past five years.
According to Michael Perez, the Brasfield & Gorrie Associate Professor in civil and environmental engineering and faculty advisor for the ASCE student chapter, the symposium is the organization’s largest event of the year.
He said students compete against 13 other universities in the region in various hands-on and technical events. Auburn Engineering had 37 students who competed in all 24 competitions.
Perez said the symposium features competitions that test students’ skills across multiple civil engineering disciplines, including mechanics of materials, statics and construction engineering.
“For example, the concrete canoe competition challenges students to design, build and race a canoe made of concrete,” he said. "Teams work throughout the year to construct their canoe and prepare for the competition. They are judged on their professional report, presentation, final product and racing performance.”
Preston Prater, a graduate student in civil and environmental engineering and president of Auburn’s ASCE chapter, said the teams start preparing months in advance.
“ASCE releases the rules for nationals in September,” he said. “We hit the ground running as soon as those rules are released and our teams prepare for months.”
As president, Prater’s responsibilities include overseeing the executive board, planning biweekly meetings, coordinating events and acting as a consultant for the competition teams by answering questions and checking up on progress.
During the symposium, his main role is to ensure all the teams are present and ready to compete, as well as assisting with logistics like transporting the canoe. This year, he also stepped in to compete on the surveying team.
“It was a very rewarding full-circle experience getting to compete again,” he said. “Not only because I’ve seen our surveying team progress from third place to winning over the past several years, but also because I was able to demonstrate those surveying skills for some of our younger members.”
Morgan Johnson, a junior in civil engineering, has been involved with ASCE since her freshman year. This year, she served as captain of the steel bridge team and was elected as vice president for next year.
As team captain, her main role was leading the design process, following ASCE guidelines to create a 24-foot bridge capable of supporting up to 2,500 pounds.
“Because we had a relatively young team, one of my primary goals was to involve members in the design and fabrication process and prepare them for future leadership roles,” she said.
Johnson said seeing the student chapter win first overall made her feel proud.
“Our success was the result of months of hard work and commitment from every member of the chapter,” she said. “Each team contributed significant time and effort to ensure we represented Auburn at the highest level.”
The ASCE student chapter will send two teams to nationals in June: the surveying team will compete at Fairmont State University in West Virginia, and the steel bridge team will compete at the University of Texas at El Paso.
