"Mississippi State"
(19th place overall; 15th in paper; 17th in presentation; 20th in product)

Presentation:

Mississippi State University represented the Deep South Conference and made their debut at nationals.

MSU relied on 2 people to make their presentation; 4 men presented.  The presenters were dressed in suits and the presentation was business oriented.  The team used 1 screen and did not include any video. 

After a brief introduction, the team elaborated on the size and history of their Chapter.  They described the salient features of their hull design and elaborated on their canoe’s salient features.  They explained why they decided to go with a symmetrical design.

Structural analysis came next.  The team explained the methods and results from their analytical and empirical studies.  Then it was on to concrete mix design.

The team elaborated on the requirements that they imposed on their concrete mix design and explained the tests that they conducted to achieve their goals.  They explained how they selected their constituents and provided the properties of their final mix.

Concrete construction came next.  The team began by describing their quality control procedures.  Then they elaborated on their construction methods and casting techniques.  After outlining their finishing techniques, the team brought their presentation to conclusion.

Questions and Comments:

• Did you compare the results obtained from your smaller slump cone to those obtained by a conventional size cone?
• Does the weight of your canoe affect its durability?
• How did you select your rowing team?
• Why did you specify the improvement of your mix design as one of your major goals?
• Did you consider presoaking your aggregates before discounting their use?
• Did you have a set of drawings from which you built your canoe?
• What is hardware cloth?
• What steps did you take to achieve a uniform consistency of the mix and constant thickness in the hull?
• What load case, bending or compression, drove you to make your conclusions regarding shrinkage?
• Did you follow the critical path outlined on your flow chart?

 Product:

The "Bulldogs" from Mississippi State University fielded "Dawgliverance."
Length: 19'
Weight: 400 lb
Color: English red

The team employed a self-furred diamond metal lathe to reinforce their hull and met the sieve requirement by using glass bubbles and ceramic spheres. 

Vital Statistics