"Ohio Northern University"
(12th place overall; 5th in paper; 20th in presentation; 15th in product)

Presentation:

Ohio Northern represented the North Central Conference and made their second consecutive national appearance.

The team relied on 3 people to make their presentation; 2 men and 1 woman.  The presenters were dressed in suits and the presentation was business oriented.  The team used 1 screen and did not include any video.

After team introductions, the team elaborated on their project management.  They outlined their presentation then outlined the steps taken to ensure safety. Then it was on the paddling practice and hull design.

The team explained how they made modifications to improve last year’s canoe.  They elaborated on their structural analysis and found that the two men sprint presented the critical loading.  They explained how they established the service load and the steps taken to achieve the needed concrete strength.  

The team elaborated on how they blended their constituents to obtain the required strength and workability.  They explained how they selected their reinforcement and elaborated on the properties obtained.

Construction came next.  The team described how they constructed their form and elaborated on the methods used to integrate pre-stressing elements.  They presented the construction methods in detail and elaborated on how much pre-stress was applied and how this was accomplished.  After elaborating on their finishing techniques, the team brought their presentation to conclusion.

Questions and Comments:

• Did spraying water onto your concrete layers affect the water to cementitious materials ratio?
• What did you do differently this year with regard to pre-stressing?
• Did you incorporate the pre-stress that you employed while analyzing the strength requirements of your canoe?
• Have you considered post tensioning as opposed to pre-stressing your canoe?
• How did you reinforce your form after you determined that bending would occur?
• Did you experience any detrimental effects while adding silica fume to your mix?
• Would you have shortened the length of your boat if the rules did not call for that?
• Now that you have seen the national entries, would the additional cost of the fiber mesh that you discounted (because of cost) have been worth purchasing it?

Product:

Ohio Northern University fielded "Northern Edge."
Length: 19' 7"
Weight: 170 lb
Color: black

The team employed two layers of fiberglass mesh and pre-stressed tendons to  reinforce their hull and met the sieve requirement by using Siscor, Poraer siscorspheres, and glass bubbles.  They also added carbon fiber and polypropylene fibers to their mix in order to strengthen their hull.

Vital Statistics