The Surveying Team earned a ninth-place finish out of 19 teams in the ASCE Utility Engineering and Survey Institute Surveying Competition, which tested seven students on both field and office surveying tasks. The team earned third place in subdivision mapping.
The team completed tasks on a real piece of property, including leveling, determining inaccessible points, using a compass, and calculating area. Each team is randomly assigned the tasks, which vary for each competition.
“Hands-on experience like this breaks the barrier between the classroom and practicing in industry,” said team captain Liam Glennon. “We especially felt that in land surveying because we were taking real-world measurements to use in calculations that we learned in the classroom.”
Preparing future engineers
Across all four events, Virginia Tech’s student teams demonstrated what is possible when classroom learning meets real-world application, buildling skills that will serve them well in their future careers.
“Participation in these competitions provides students with an applied opportunity to work on problem-solving skills and professional skills such as technical communication and teamwork,” said White. “The students work on these projects over the course of an academic year. The payoff at the end is getting to represent Virginia Tech at the national level and network with other passionate engineering students from across the country.”
