The Hensel Phelps and CO Architects design-build team celebrated the topping out of the University of California, Irvine (UCI) medical center on July 13. The structure is the last of three major buildings that make up UCI Health’s new seven-story, 350,000-sq-ft, 144-bed acute care facility, ambulatory care center and cancer center. The $1.3-billion project is slated for completion in 2025. The completed campus will be the first University of California medical center to be powered entirely by electricity, part of the system’s commitment to become carbon neutral by 2025.

Photo courtesy Andy McNeill/ASCE

The concrete canoe team from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO) was named National ASCE Concrete Canoe Winner for the seventh time, the most wins for any school in the 36-year history of the contest. The team earned the honor at the first-ever ASCE Civil Engineering Student Championships, June 10-12, at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville. Cal Poly SLO’s canoe design and the sustainable materials used during the construction process were inspired by the kelp forests near San Luis Obispo, which are declining and in need of protection. Cal Poly SLO’s Oceana finished in the top five of every race while also winning the technical proposal and technical presentation categories. The Cal Poly SLO team previously won the concrete canoe title in 2022, 2018, 2017, 2012, 2011 and 2010. Universite Laval claimed the R. John Craig Legacy Award. Youngstown State University earned first for the final product, and Rowan University was recognized with the innovation award.