PNW Civil Engineering students repeat as national champions in geodetic competitions

June 26, 2024

Purdue University Northwest (PNW) civil engineering students emerged as national champions in the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) Utility Engineering and Geodeting Institute (UESI) collegiate surveying competition for the second year in a row.

Fourth-year students Natalia Briggs and Quinton Pender and third-year students Dylan Barthel and Krish Zalavadia placed first in the ASCE PNW class at the 2024 ASCE Civil Engineering Student Championships held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Briggs, Pender and Zalavadia won the 2023 top prize at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
Student teams competing in the UESI Surveying competition apply civil engineering principles using field equipment to complete several tasks while simulating a professional, real-world scenario.
The PNW research team competed against 15 other qualifying teams, defeating Clemson University (second place) and Penn State University (third place).

“It’s very exciting and I’m very honored that we were able to retain the No. 1 title,” Pender said. “We met every week for several months in advance to practice as much as possible. The competition this year was fierce and the difficulty of the field tasks was definitely high. But it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle and work through together.”

The ASCE PNW team’s journey was supported by generous sponsors including the ASCE Northwest Indiana Section; DLZ consulting company; Northwest Chapter of the Indiana Society of Professional Surveyors; and Torrenga Surveying, LLC.

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