"Clemson University (3CT)"
(7th place overall; 3rd in paper; 4th in presentation; 10th in product)

Presentation:

Clemson represented the Carolinas Conference and made their fifteenth national appearance.

Clemson relied on 3 people to make their presentation; 1 man and 2 women.  The presenters were dressed in suits and the presentation was business oriented.  The team used 2 screens and included 7 video segments.

Clemson was positioned last due to technical difficulties associated with multi-screen projection through the host’s system.  But the host came up with two projectors and after some work to invert and resize the projected images, Clemson took the stage.

After a brief introduction, the team began with a project overview.  Hull design came first.

The team described the motivation behind their design and gave its specifications.  They explained how they performed their structural analysis and mentioned that they found that the maximum load occurred during the three person race.

Then it was on to mix design.  The team described the mix design process and elaborated on the unique materials used to build a superior product.  Then they described the reinforcement.

 This was followed by a description of form and canoe construction.  Details were given regarding the important steps and curing and finishing techniques included.  The team mentioned that they used thermal imaging to insure uniform mixing.

Then the team outlined their project management while highlighting their project schedule and critical path.  They elaborated on their paddling practice before bring their presentation to conclusion. 

Questions and Comments:  

• How much tension did you apply to your tendons?
• Did they experience any relaxation and how did you take this into account?
• Does the procedure you used follow the manufacturer’s recommendations?
• How did you incorporate thermal imaging?
• How did you integrate the test results obtained from your old canoe (a different shape) into your analysis of this year’s boat?
• Why did you have to dry cure your boat prior to wet curing?
• Were you trying to maximize the use of supplementary cementitious materials?
• Would you use more of these if you were allowed?
• How did you cure your boat?
• Did you consider using slag?
• How did you test your design for turnability?

During the question and answer session the judges asked how the team handled curing considering that a large amount of fly ash was employed.  But it turned out that the judges inadvertently grabbed the wrong report… and the audience laughed after the judges said, "good answer"… following 3CT’s response to the question: “We didn‘t use any.”

Overall, this was a very strong performance.

Product:

   Clemson fielded "The Flying Tiger."
Length: 19.2'
Weight: 183 lb
Color: weathered steel

3CT’s hull was reinforced using 3 layers of fiberglass scrim that was polymer coated.  The team included pre-stressed tensylon yarn tendons.  They added carbon and polypropylene fibers for secondary reinforcement.  Matrix materials included Class F fly ash and  poraver.

Their canoe had a curved bottom hull with hard chines.  The team employed different concentrations of acid stain to improve their aesthetics.  Material removed during a hole punching operation was employed to give the illusion of rivets.

Vital Statistics