"University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown"
(18th place overall; 19th in paper; 15th in presentation; 17th in product)

Presentation:

The University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown represented the Mid-Atlantic Conference and made their debut at nationals.

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

Johnstown was first off the block in the afternoon session.  The team outlined their goals and remarked on their limited budget.  They outlined their project management and stressed the importance of recruitment.

Hull design came next.  They elaborated on their hydrodynamic design and elaborated on the features that were taken into account.

The team described their mold construction techniques and explained how they tested their mold release scenario.  Then they detailed their mix design and explained how much they had improved the properties.

Concrete construction came next.  The team explained how they built their boat and constructed their inlay.  Then they elaborated on their paddling practices and commented on their performance at the regional level.

Questions and Comments: 

• How did you determine that the co-ed sprint presented the critical loading?
• Why is your flexural strength so much higher than your compressive strength?
• Did your calculations include the reinforcement?
• Who came up with your CQI approach?
• How did you determine that sprinting time constituted 60% of the total race time?
• Why did you use two different types of fiberglass reinforcement?
• What are the differences between these reinforcements?
• What was the problem that occurred regarding the shortage of materials?
• How would you avoid this problem in the future?

  The University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown fielded "Drakkar."
Length: 19' 8"
Weight: 341 lb
Color: black and white

The team employed two different types of fiberglass mesh to reinforce their hull and met the sieve requirement by using Poraer siscorspheres and Macrolite.  They varied the orientation of the fibers in the layers of reinforcement. 

Vital Statistics