A team of University of Arkansas at Little Rock students brought home first place in the Sustainability Competition at the American Society of Civil Engineers Deep South Student Conference for their design and build of a sustainable doghouse.

The winning team consisted of Kassandra Castrillo, an environmental engineering major, Parker Little, architectural and construction engineering major, and civil and construction engineering students William Littlejohn, Isaac Martinez, and Garrett Wallace.

“The design team from UA Little Rock chose bamboo as the primary material for the doghouse because it is fast-growing, strong, lightweight, resistant to bacteria, and water-repellent,” said Dr. Nick Jovanovic, faculty advisor to UA Little Rock’s team. “They also designed and built prefabricated panels that fit together with built-in pegs and slots to minimize the number of bolted connections and reduce construction time without sacrificing structural strength and stability.”

UA Little Rock’s team constructed the doghouse in 1 minute and 48 seconds using three builders. The closest competitor was the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, who built their doghouse in just under four minutes. The UA Little Rock student chapter will represent the Deep South Conference at the ASCE national sustainability event in Melbourne, Florida, in June. Afterwards, the doghouse will be donated to a local animal shelter.

“The UA Little Rock sustainability team won five categories out of seven: aesthetics, construction time, construction cost, technical paper, and overall,” Jovanovic said. “The competition at nationals will be tougher, because only the 18 regional winners will be competing. Before then, the team will try to further reduce weight, construction time, and construction cost, to avoid penalties, and to improve their oral presentation and video for the national competition.”

In other competitions, John Schwarz, a civil and construction engineering major, was awarded second place in Daniel Mead Ethics Competition.

Another UA Little Rock team placed fourth in the Surveying Competition. The team included Schwarz, Martinez, civil and construction engineering students Hunter Hobby, Logan Snapp, Jesus Martinez, as well as Jose Garcia, a construction management major.

The American Society of Civil Engineers sponsors 18 regional conferences across North America. The Deep South Student Conference includes 14 civil engineering programs in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The UA Little Rock student chapter will represent the Deep South Conference at the ASCE national sustainability event in Melbourne, Florida, in June.