"New Mexico State University"
(6th place overall; 8th in paper; 4th in presentation; 6th in product)

Presentation:

New Mexico State represented the Rocky Mountain Conference and made their sixth national appearance.

New Mexico relied on 5 people to make their presentation; 5 women presented.  The presenters were dressed in business attire and the presentation was business oriented.  The team used 1 screen and included video.

After giving a brief introduction, the team outlined the philosophy underlying their theme.  They followed up with hull design and described how they studied naval architecture to improve the hydrodynamics of their entry.  Then they elaborated on how they met these objectives.

The team explained how they mounted strain gages on a prior entry to obtain the service load.  The team found that the critical load occurred during the co-ed sprint and while transporting the canoe.  The team explained the tests conducted to evaluate their structural design.  Then it was on to mold and canoe construction.

The team elaborated on how they constructed their inlays and showed some time lapse and video presentations to supplement their description.  The team elaborated on their reinforcement scheme and the and free fibers used during construction.

The team mentioned the project schedule and elaborated on their critical path.  They explained how they spent time on rebuilding and learning… and elaborated on their on recruitment techniques.

Questions and Comments:

• Why did you choose a 7 or 8 day cure time while evaluating your design parameters?
• How did you develop the scenario used to reinforce your canoe?
• Did you run into any problems with credibility, considering that the majority of your team is composed mostly of women?
• Were there any surprises when you studied the strain gage results and critical loading?
• Did you develop a prototype for testing or did you gage last year’s canoe?
• What type of results did you get from your flume tests?
• What were your goals and the conclusions drawn from this work?

 Product:

The "Aggies" from New Mexico State fielded "For Pete's Sake."
Length: 19' 6"
Weight: 153 lb
Color: white w/multi-colored inlays

The team used strain gages to establish the service load and employed free fibers in the mix to increase their canoe's strength.

Vital Statistics