"Washington State University"
(15th place overall; 12th in paper; 9th in presentation; 15th in product)

Presentation:

Washington State University represented the Pacific Northwest Conference and made their eleventh national appearance.

WSU 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.

The team explained how they developed their theme.  Following a brief team introduction, the team outlined their presentation.  They explained the team structure and explained how they conducted their project.

Hull design came next.  The team elaborated on the attributes that they wanted to achieve and explained how these goals were achieved.

The team explained how they performed structural analysis and described the assumptions made and results obtained. 

Mix design came next.  The team tested 19 different mixes to achieve their design goals and the team specified how well they met their objectives.

The team elaborated on how they constructed their mold and canoe.  They explained how they use depth gages and relied on control cylinders to keep track of the concrete properties.  Then they brought their presentation to a conclusion.

Questions and Comments:   

• Did you actually test the quality control cylinders placed during concrete canoe construction?
• Why wasn’t this included as part of your flow chart?
• Considering the minimal amount of man hours expended, why were you so efficient?
• Were there any delays in your schedule?
• How expensive was you finite element analysis program?
• Did you perform any back up calculations to verify the results obtained?
• Did you perform any tests to determine how much deadwood should be removed?
• How did you secure the extra fiberglass reinforcement used in the chimes to the graphite?
• How did you stay within a budget of only $1,000?
• Did you modify the aggregates prior to adding them to your mix?

Product:

Washington State University fielded "Wheatland Express."
Length: 19' 11"
Weight: 294 lb
Color: red and gray

The team employed two layers of epoxy coated carbon fiber mesh to reinforce their hull and met the sieve requirement by using shale and K-15 micro-spheres.  They also added fiberglass reinforcement in the chine. 

Vital Statistics