"University of Texas at Austin"
 (21st place overall, 19th place in paper, 16th place in presentation, 23rd place in product, 13th place in races)

Presentation:

The University of Texas - Austin represented the Texas-Mexico Conference and made their fifth national appearance.

Austin relied on 2 people to make their presentation; 1 man and 1 woman.  The presenters were dressed business casual.  The team used 1 screen; there were no animations.

After introducing themselves, the team stressed their recruiting techniques and mentioned fund raising.  They explained how they used last year’s steel bridge to aid in construction and mentioned their efforts regarding sustainability. 

The team outlined the innovations made during the project and integrated this with a segment related to construction.  The team outlined the challenges that they faced and how they handled them.

After mentioning that they had fun doing the project, the team brought their presentation to conclusion.

   Questions and Comments:

• What motivated you to revert back to simpler concepts and a more basic approach?
•  How does your approach to air entrainment compare to that used by other teams?
•  How successful were you in repairing the crack that developed in your canoe?
• What constitutes a Type I/II cement?
• Why did you choose not to use a viscosity modifier?
• Can you describe the critical path associated with your project plan?
• Did you determine the flexural strength of your composite?
• Were you concerned with drag regarding surface roughness?
• What would you do differently if you could do this again?

 This was a very different approach to making the presentation and it remains to be seen how the judges rate it.  But the team presented well and addressed all of the questions posed.

Product:

Canoe Name/Weight: "Carnival Canoe"/203 lb

Display and Cross Section:

Vital Statistics