Stephanie Pausma is part of Dordt College's concrete canoe team

2014 May 6

Stephanie Pausma of Melvin, Iowa, is part of Dordt College's concrete canoe team that earned high honors in the annual Concrete Canoe Competition held by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The regional competition was held April 26, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Pausma is a sophomore majoring in engineering.

The Concrete Canoe Competition gives students an opportunity to work on a real-world engineering project that provides opportunities for management, teamwork, design, and construction.

The team took second place for their technical paper, third place for the presentation, and third final product. "We didn't finish in the top three overalla?"paddling in the wind proved to be quite difficult for us and brought our score down," said Engineering Professor Justin Vander Werff, Dordt's faculty advisor. "However, the team was very pleased with their performance, and I believe this is the first year we've finished in the top three of all the non-paddling categories." Joel Sikkema also served as a faculty advisor for this year's team.

Nine teams competed in this year's competition including Dordt College, Iowa State University, Minnesota State University-Mankato, North Dakota State University, South Dakota State University, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

"The students worked throughout the fall and spring semesters on various aspects of the design, construction, and finishing of the canoe, as well as on the display, paper, and presentation. The competition was a great culmination and celebration of another academic year of work well done," said Vander Werff.

Dordt College will host next year's Midwest Conference Canoe Competition. Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, is a comprehensive Christian college rooted in the Reformed tradition. U.S. News & World Report, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review all list Dordt on their best colleges lists. Dordt is home to approximately 1,400 students. To learn more about Dordt College, visit www.dordt.edu.