Concrete canoe is an engineering extracurricular activity revolving around the design, creation, and racing of a canoe made of concrete. Students learn valuable design and teamwork skills, and have the great opportunity to meet civil engineering students from schools across the nation.

The tradition of concrete canoe started in 1971, when Professor Clyde Kessler at the University of Illinois encouraged his concrete mix design students to build a concrete canoe. When Purdue University heard about this, they created a canoe as well, and the two schools had the first ever canoe races in Danville, IL. Since then, the activity has grown, becoming a national competition in 1988, and celebrating the 20th annual national competition this past June in Seattle, WA.

University of Alabama-Huntsville hosts the complete story of the beginnings of concrete canoe, as told by the founder and first faculty advisor, Professor Clyde Kessler.