Meet the ASCE Nationals Bound Team Captains
With the great success our American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) competition teams have had this year, we’re thrilled to spotlight a few of the remarkable individuals who have served as team captains.
Michael “Andrew” Crawford – Steel Bridge Captain
Andrew has served as the 2023-24 captain of the ASCE Steel Bridge team. His reason for becoming captain stems from the heartbreak that occurred after the 2023 ASCE Carolinas Symposium held at the Citadel. The Steel Bridge team was awarded first place, however after returning back to UNC Charlotte they were informed that a scoring mistake had occurred and the team had actually come in second place. Andrew says the scoring mistake “lit a fire” under him and he “fixated on the bridge for the following 12 months”. His dedication to this year’s Steel Bridge was a huge part of why they not only won the 2024 ASCE Carolinas Symposium, but have qualified for ASCE Nationals. Since regionals have concluded, Andrew has been comparing their results with other teams across the country who have also qualified for nationals trying to better their performance at Nationals. He has found a way to shave off twenty percent of the building cost of their bridge. We wish Andrew and his team the best of luck as they compete at the Steel Bridge National Finals to be held at Louisiana Tech University on May 31-June 1.
Julissa Badillo – Concrete Canoe Captain
Julissa has served as the 2023-24 captain of the ASCE Concrete Canoe team. She stepped into the role of captain after serving as the aesthetics lead the previous year. Julissa said, “it felt natural to me to step up into the role” of captain. She has worked hard all year reaching out to close to 100 companies to secure enough funding to keep the canoe on budget. The team was able to get a donor for almost every material needed to create the canoe because of Julissa’s hard work and networking. Julissa led her team to first place at this year’s ASCE Carolinas Symposium. She said, “being able to receive [first place] and knowing that I did right by my team and they got first place was one of the most rewarding experiences”. With this regional win, the Concrete Canoe team has qualified for the ASCE Nationals. Julissa and her team will be competing in the national competition to be held at Brigham Young University in Utah on June 19-22.
Jordan Landis & Justin Sprumont – Sustainable Solutions Co-Captains
Jordan and Justin have served as the 2023-24 co-captains of the Sustainable Solutions team. They served as co-captains to last year’s Innovation team, who won the National title back in October. For Justin, “transitioning into leadership just made sense” with how involved he was in ASCE. With Jordan and Justin’s proven track record of success, they continued their winning by leading their Sustainable Solutions team to a regional win at the ASCE Carolinas Symposium this year. Their regional win earned them a qualifying bid for Nationals. Jordan, Justin, and team will travel to Brigham Young University, alongside the Concrete Canoe team, on June 19-22 to compete in the national competition.
We are so proud of all of their accomplishments at regionals and wish all three teams the best of luck at their national competition!