ASCE CSULA student chapter

What ASCE CSULA student chapter does

The ASCE CSULA Student Chapter is the California State University, Los Angeles chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a nonprofit student organization operating from the Cal State LA campus at 5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles. Its mission is to provide Cal State LA students with hands-on, collaboration-based engineering project experience and the social, technical, and leadership skills necessary for real-world engineering applications. The chapter serves primarily Cal State LA students of all majors and experience levels, with a secondary audience of the broader Los Angeles community including faculty, alumni, and local stakeholders engaged through outreach.

The chapter operates through four student-led project teams — Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge, GeoWall, and Environmental Design — each focused on a distinct civil engineering discipline spanning materials/structural engineering, geotechnical engineering (mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls), and environmental engineering (water filtration device design). Teams collaborate across the academic year to prepare for the annual Pacific Southwest Student Symposium (PSWS), a 3-day regional conference hosted under ASCE auspices that draws schools from Southern California and Hawai'i and is co-organized with industry partners including the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and the Geo-Institute. The chapter maintains a multi-channel community footprint spanning a main Instagram account plus dedicated project-team Instagram accounts, Facebook, a Discord server, and email, and is governed by a board of student officers (President Brian Morales, External VP Hector Vazquez, Internal VP Giovanni Garcia, Treasurer Anthony Longoria, and others) plus project co-captains.

The organization has no commercial product or service sales. Funding comes from three streams: GoFundMe donations, corporate sponsorships offered in exchange for logo placement on competition projects, and institutional support from the Cal State LA College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology, which the chapter states covers approximately 50% of symposium participation costs. Strategic partnerships include the parent ASCE national organization, AISC and the Geo-Institute for specific PSWS competition categories, and the Cal State LA College. Recent milestones include a 5th-place finish by the Environmental Design team at the 2023 PSWS hosted by California State University, Northridge, and preparation for the 2024 PSWS hosted by the University of Hawai'i at Manoa on April 3-6, 2024.

Name

ASCE CSULA student chapter

Legal name

American Society of Civil Engineers - Cal State LA Student Chapter

Website

https://csulaasce.weebly.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The ASCE CSULA Student Chapter is a nonprofit student organization at California State University, Los Angeles that runs four civil engineering competition teams — Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge, GeoWall, and Environmental Design — preparing students for the annual Pacific Southwest Student Symposium.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Engineering Organization

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Student Organizations & Club Administration (EDALAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Business, Entrepreneurship & Case Competitions (DECA-style, Pitch, Case) (EDAMAGAJ)

Keywords

• Student engineering organization
• Civil engineering competitions
• Concrete canoe design
• Steel bridge construction
• Engineering project teams

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The chapter raises funds through GoFundMe campaigns and individual donations to support student participation in the Pacific Southwest Symposium, covering materials, registration, travel, and shipping costs.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Chapter seeks financial sponsors by offering benefits including logo space on projects. Interested sponsors can contact the chapter via email for sponsorship opportunities.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The ASCE CSULA Student Chapter is a nonprofit student organization at California State University, Los Angeles that operates four hands-on civil engineering competition project teams—Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge, GeoWall, and Environmental Design. Members collaborate throughout the academic year to design, fabricate, and test engineering projects, then compete at the annual Pacific Southwest Student Symposium hosted under ASCE auspices. The chapter also facilitates professional networking, leadership development, and community engagement through on-campus events, project workdays, and an online Discord community.

Product overview

ASCE CSULA is a student chapter organization at California State University, Los Angeles, consisting of four project teams—Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge, GeoWall, and Environmental Design—that operate as student-led engineering competition groups. These teams collaborate throughout the academic year to prepare for the annual Pacific Southwest Student Symposium (PSWS), where they compete against other ASCE chapters from Southern California and Hawai'i. The organization provides hands-on engineering experience and professional development opportunities for students across all majors and experience levels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Concrete Canoe Project Team A student engineering project team that develops hull designs and tests different concrete mixes to construct a light and strong canoe with optimal dynamics. Members integrate creative designs into canoe aesthetics and prepare for physical canoe races at the Pacific Southwest Student Symposium, serving Cal State LA students interested in materials and structural engineering.
• Steel Bridge Project Team A student-driven project team that performs analysis, design, fabrication, and construction of a steel bridge meeting standards of durability, performance, construction time, economy, and aesthetics. The bridge is judged and load-tested annually at the Pacific Southwest Student Symposium, serving Cal State LA students interested in structural engineering.
• GeoWall Project Team A student competition project team where participants study soil properties and engineering fundamentals to design a mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining wall using paper. The team focuses on foundation engineering to create the lightest and most efficient reinforcement, competing at the annual Pacific Southwest Student Symposium, serving Cal State LA students interested in geotechnical engineering.
• Environmental Design Project Team A student project team that develops, designs, and constructs water filtration devices to replicate treatment factory processes. Each year, students purify contaminated water using different compounds and materials, often including household objects, serving Cal State LA students interested in environmental engineering.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5th place finish at 2023 Pacific Southwest Student Symposium (Environmental Design team)

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• University of Hawai'i at ManoacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 April 2024University of Hawai'i at Manoa hosts the 2024 Pacific Southwest Student Symposium on April 3-6, 2024, welcoming students from Southern California and Hawai'i to compete, network, and engage with industry partners.
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerASCE CSULA is the student chapter of the national American Society of Civil Engineers. This affiliation provides access to competitions, professional development resources, industry networks, and the annual Pacific Southwest Student Symposium organized under ASCE auspices.
• Pacific Southwest Student Symposium (PSWS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSWS is an annual 3-day conference allowing students to test civil engineering knowledge through competitions including Steel Bridge, Concrete Canoe, and GeoWall. The symposium hosts schools from Southern California and Hawai'i for competitive, networking, and social events.
• Geo-InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Geo-Institute co-hosts the annual Pacific Southwest Student Symposium's GeoWall competition with ASCE, providing students opportunities to apply geotechnical engineering knowledge in competition settings.
• American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAISC co-hosts the Pacific Southwest Student Symposium's Steel Bridge competition with ASCE, supporting student learning in steel bridge analysis, design, fabrication, and construction.
• Cal State LA, College of Engineering, Computer Science, and TechnologymajorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe College provides institutional support to ASCE CSULA, contributing approximately 50% of the funding needed for the 2024 Pacific Southwest Symposium participation costs including materials, registration, travel, and shipping.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ASCE University of Hawai'i at Manoa Student Chapter: ASCE student chapter at University of Hawai'i at Manoa, which hosts the 2024 Pacific Southwest Student Symposium and competes in the same four categories; a direct regional peer despite its geographic distance within the PSWS circuit.
• ASCE UCLA Student Chapter: The ASCE student chapter at UCLA directly competes against ASCE CSULA at the Pacific Southwest Student Symposium in the same competition categories (Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge, GeoWall), operating the same project-team structure with similar university sponsorship patterns in the same regional circuit.
• ASCE UC Berkeley Student Chapter: ASCE student chapter at UC Berkeley, a larger California civil engineering program competing in the same national ASCE competition circuit (typically Pacific Southwest at PSWS), with broader resources and project team depth but identical competition categories and chapter structure.
• ASCE Cal Poly Pomona Student Chapter: ASCE student chapter at Cal Poly Pomona, a fellow CSU system civil engineering program that competes directly at PSWS in Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge, GeoWall, and Environmental Design, with comparable scale, funding model, and competition focus.
• ASCE San Diego State University Student Chapter: ASCE student chapter at San Diego State University, a CSU peer competing in the same Pacific Southwest Student Symposium across the same four competition categories, with comparable scale and student-organization structure.

Broad incumbents

• ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Student Sections: ASME student sections at universities operate parallel project-team and competition structures (e.g., Human-Powered Vehicle, Formula SAE-adjacent programs) under a national engineering society umbrella, serving the same student engineering population with comparable chapter governance and fundraising models.
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) National: The national ASCE organization is the parent body that charters ASCE CSULA and runs the Pacific Southwest Student Symposium and other regional conferences, providing the competition framework, standards, and industry network access that the chapter relies on.

Regional players

• IEEE Student Branch at Cal State LA: The IEEE student branch at the same Cal State LA campus serves engineering students from a different discipline (electrical/computer engineering) using a parallel national-society chapter structure with project teams, competitions, and similar fundraising dynamics — a same-university peer organization.

Market position

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/calstatelaconcretecanoe
• Instagraminstagram.com/asce_csula
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/asce-csula-student-chapter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ASCE CSULA student chapter