"University of Wisconsin - Madison (Badgers)"
(1st place overall; 1st in paper; 3rd in presentation; 2nd in product)

R. John Craig Award for Co-Ed Sprint Race

Presentation:

The Badgers relied on 4 people to deliver their presentation.  They used 1 screen and presented their effort from a business standpoint.

After the team introduced themselves, they explained the rationale behind their canoe’s name.  They explained why they made the changes they did in their hull design and elaborated on the advantage of using hard chines.

The team explained how they tested the hydrodynamics of their canoe and elaborated on their structural design.

The concrete constituents came next and they explained how they incorporated innovative fly ash constituents into their concrete mix.  They explained how they met their goals and mentioned that they employed the punch shear test introduced by last year’s team.

Construction came next.  The team explained how they achieved smooth surfaces through quality control.  They detailed their construction methods and explained how the reinforcement  and concrete were placed.

The team mentioned the curing cycle and elaborated on their finishing techniques.  They explained their organizational breakdown and mentioned how risks and safety were addressed through sustainable design and management.

Questions and Comments: 

• How much pre-stressing force is there in your tendons?
• Is their any loss in tension during service?
• Do you see any disadvantages to your parametrical analysis?
• Do you think that varying more than one component at a time would help?
• What do you mean when you said that you constructed a “moldless prototype?”
• Could you elaborate on the construction process?
• Why did you wait 28 days before removing your canoe from the mold?
• The judges commented on the air content and yield proportions specified in the mix design table and asked the team to justify them.
• How did you arrive at the specific gravity of you slag?

Product:

Canoe Name: Forward
Length: 21 ft  
Weight:162 lb
Color: natural gray

Vital Statistics