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!