"University of Washington"
(14th place overall)

Design Paper (21st):

Presentation (25th):

Washington built their theme around a coffee shop.  The power point presentation was given by one man and one woman as an interactive sales pitch.  The team members were dressed casually and the team chose to use a very effective maroon background to underscore their presentation.  They explained their construction strategy and how they used shot-crete technique.

Although the presentation was very good and easy to understand, it was somewhat hard to hear because the participants spoke to one another as opposed to facing the audience.

The team was questioned regarding the retardation of their mix and asked what effect the aggregates had on the total water to cement ratio in the final mix.  They were asked what the significance of the water to cement ratio was and how they maintained the thickness of the shot-crete during construction. 

The judges mentioned that the team didn’t really elaborate on the properties that were desired of their mix.  The team was asked to explain the type of scheduling techniques that they employed and how much it would cost to reproduce their product. 

The judges asked the team if they performed tests to evaluate the consistency of the shot-crete and asked them to describe the methods employed for quality control.

Product (8th):

Name: Seattle’s Best Canoe
Length: 21'
Weight: 100 lb
Color: white

Vital Stats:

The University of Washington is located in Seattle, Washington.  They have proudly represented the Pacific Northwest Region four times at the national level (1998, 1999, 2000, and 2002).  The team has finished three times in the top five and their highest finish to date was fourth in 1999.

Display (14th):

Canoe/Materials/Facts:

White Portland cement was used to avoid having a gray band, causing the entire canoe to be white.