Student Engineering Team Ranks 8th in National Surveying Competition

Student Engineering Team Ranks 8th in National Surveying Competition

The University of Toledo chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) ranked among the top collegiate teams to compete in a national surveying competition in June.

Undergraduates Emma Core, Caleb Kaiser, Kaleb Spear and Frank Tokar participated in the collegiate competition organized by the ASCE's Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute at Brigham Young University from June 20 to June 24.

The competition required them to first present a topographic map that they had created in advance based on provided data, then to complete four surveying field tasks. The team ranked fifth in topographic map and presentation, eighth in field tasks and eighth overall.

"This competition was a great success and learning experience," said Tokar, the team captain who graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and minors in business administration and surveying in May. "Participating in this competition helped us improve skills that will help us in our careers, such as leadership, collaboration, planning, communication and problem solving."

This was the first year the student chapter competed in the national competition, following qualification in a regional competition at the University of Akron in April. At the regional level the team placed first in topographic map and presentation, first in field tasks and first overall.

"I am very proud of our team," Tokar said. "I have great confidence that our team will do very well in future competitions."

Tokar has since begun a full-time job as a survey technician at the Mannik & Smith Group in Toledo. Meanwhile Core is a sophomore, Kaiser is a junior, and Spear is a senior pursuing bachelor's degrees in civil engineering with minors in surveying at UToledo's College of Engineering.

The surveying minor is an attractive offering within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering that allows students to meet the academic requirements for license as a professional surveyor in Ohio.

"Dual licensure as a surveyor and an engineer is highly valuable for civil engineers," said Dr. Defne Apul, professor and chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "We are proud to be able to offer our students this opportunity, and we are especially proud of Frank, Kaleb, Caleb and Emma for putting their surveying skills to the test at the ASCE-UESCI Student Competition."