Kyle Marshall is a captain of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's National Concrete Canoe Competition team. He has been involved in the contest for three years.

Q: How did Cal Poly do in your regional competition in April?
Cal Poly competed against 16 other teams to win ASCE's Pacific Southwest Regional Conference (PSWRC). Now we're looking forward to competing in the national competition in June.

Q: What's your record?
Cal Poly has taken 1st place at the PSWRC for 13 of the past 15 years. In the national competition, our concrete canoes have won 2nd (2006), 5th (2007), and 4th place (2008).

Q: Who's on Cal Poly's team?
Our team has six captains to ensure equal distribution of responsibilities: one project manager (Kyle Marshall), two construction captains (Gary Welling & Meggie O'Hagan), and three mix design captains (Nic Capuchino, Sheila Shideh, & Greg Stone).

Six captains' assistants play vital roles in the design-build process, and ensure transfer of knowledge and methods for future years

More than 50 Cal Poly ASCE members helped place concrete during fabrication days.

Q: Can students participate more than once?
Students can compete as registered participants for three years.

Q: How much time do students spend on the contest?
A total of 4600 hours went into the creation of the 2009 Cal Poly Concrete Canoe, "Vintage."

[Editor's note: Engineering students participate in the NCCC on a volunteer basis. They do not always receive course credit for their work.]

Q: What unique features give your canoe an edge?
Vintage showcases a plethora of unique features including sandblast recessed colored slurried tiles, pre-cast colored tiles, elaborate staining, and recessed concrete graphics. Innovative features include a post-tensioning system with incorporation of a carbon sequestering cementitious material into the concrete mixture.

Q: How did you come up with the theme for your canoe?
San Luis Obispo County is home to a flourishing wine country. "Vintage" (the name of the canoe) captures this local heritage through its aesthetic attributes. The elaborate mural on the hull depicts local wineries through acid stains. The sandblast recessed colored slurried tiles depict the wine making process from nose to tail, grapes to glass. The gunwales encompass recessed concrete graphics with the name of the canoe, and clean, fine lines contribute to its aesthetic appeal.