Published January 16, 2025
NYU Tandon’s Concrete Canoe Team Paddles Toward a Sustainable Future
At NYU, extraordinary things happen all the time, from groundbreaking research to awe-inspiring performances. But some achievements really stand out. For example, there’s NYU Tandon’s Concrete Canoe team. Every year, they design and build a canoe made from the unlikeliest of materials: concrete. Then, alongside engineering students from across the country, they race it in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) annual Concrete Canoe Competition. What’s more, this year’s NYU team made history. They were the first all-rookie team ever to qualify for nationals—and they took eighth place overall.
“I had no doubt that the team was going to represent NYU Tandon admirably,” says Weihua Jin, team adviser and industry professor of civil and urban engineering. “Even had they not achieved the incredible overall ranking of eighth in the nation, they would have deserved high marks for their enthusiasm and bravery in tackling a project that was totally new to them.”
Diving into the Deep End
NYU Tandon’s Concrete Canoe team is part of the University’s Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program. These long-term, multidisciplinary projects allow undergraduate and graduate students alike to develop real-world skills and earn academic credit. However, the 2023–2024 team faced a unique challenge: they were all first-year students. “All of the previous members had either graduated or moved on to other activities,” Alex Huang, the team’s captain, explains. “So you could say we were thrown into the deep end.”
Even with the steep learning curve, the group rallied, supported by NYU Tandon’s MakerSpace, VIP program, and dedicated faculty. “I wondered a few times what I had gotten myself into,” Huang admits. “But many people stepped up to contribute. Despite our initial lack of overall experience, we ended up assembling a fantastic team.”
Jin adds that the group was also notable. Over 40 percent were pursuing majors other than Civil Engineering. “The team provides solid evidence that the greatest innovations emerge when there are a plurality of voices and perspectives involved in a project,” he notes.
Breaking Records and Boundaries
In addition to their historic all-rookie qualification, the NYU Tandon team placed in the top 10 for two race categories: women’s and coed final sprints. Plus, when they secured eighth place overall, they placed in the top 3 percent of over 250 competitors. Their innovative canoe also set new standards for sustainability and efficiency. The team reduced carbon emissions 97 percent compared to the industry standard. Moreover, their canoe took less time and money to construct than last year’s submission.
“We believe we are the first team ever to have produced a zero-cement and bendable, meshless concrete canoe,” Huang says. “Concrete is the second-most-used material in the world, after water, and eliminating cement from the mix has an enormously positive environmental impact. Replacing traditional mesh reinforcement with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers also allowed us to cast the canoe in a single layer. This made the finished canoe exceptionally durable and significantly more cost-efficient.”
Onwards and Upwards
For the team, the competition was as much about determination as it was about innovation. At times, it involved literal blood, sweat, and tears. Huang recalls, “Julia Jakubisiak, a member of our Mix Design and Paddling subteams, suffered a nosebleed during race day. Then, Anthony Lamelas from the Construction and Paddling subteams injured his hand when his paddle broke 10 seconds into our race.” Still, those challenges didn’t dampen their spirits. “It was all worth it,” Huang says. “We hope to break more records (and hopefully not paddles) next year.”
This story was originally published on NYU Tandon News. You can read the original version here.
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