"Michigan Technological University"
(6th place overall, 3rd place in paper, 7th place in presentation, 7th place in product, 5th in races)

Presentation:

Michigan Tech University represented the North Central Conference and made their twelfth national appearance.

Michigan Tech relied on 4 people to make their presentation; 3 men and 1 woman.  The presenters were dressed in formal attire.  The team used 1 screen and included a video.

The team began with an introduction to their theme and team.  The team elaborated on their mix design and the requirements imposed on it.  They defined the mix specifications and the tests used to determine them.

The team integrated construction into this discussion.  They explained how they devoted a great deal of time to research and development and elaborated on their finite element analysis.  They drew comparisons with empirical data and specified the location and magnitude of the critical stress.  Then the team explained how they selected a reforcement to thwart the stress. 

The team explained how a crack developed during the races and elaborated on the cause.  They described how the boat survived the regional races and how they did some prognostics regarding survivability at nationals. 

After explaining how they plan to relocate the paddlers to prevent further cracking, the team brought their presentation to conclusion.

Questions and Comments:

• What is the purpose of incorporating a water reducer?
• Why did you choose the instrument that you did to measure the air content?
• Why did you remove reinforcement in portions of your hull?
• Why did your finite element analysis predict higher stresses than those measured?
• What would you do differently to correct the problem associated with the cracks that you observed?
• How did you end up with such a low air content?
• Do you know what the minimum water to cement ratio is for hydraulic cement?
• How did the delay in casting day affect the project?
• Is there anything that you want to mention regarding safety?
• What was the most positive lesson that you learned this year?
• What was the biggest problem that you encountered during construction?

The presentation went smoothly but the judges asked a lot of tough questions.

Product:

Canoe Name/Weight: "Frontier"/164 lb

Display and Cross Section:

Vital Statistics