| SPECIFICATIONS:
Overall length of boat: 6.07 m (19' 11.5")
Net weight of canoe:
Approx. 124.7 kg (275 lb)
Concrete: 1216
kg/m3 (78 lb/ft3)
Reinforcement:
Three Layers of Spatially Separated
Un-impregnated
Graphite
Placement: 3rd at Regional
Regional Conference: University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, TN
National Competition: University of Washington,
Seattle, WA
Officers:
P: Josh Burton
VP: Erick Ordonez
S: Matthew Pinkston
T: Dane Schoonover
COB: Derek Comeens
SBC: Morris Morell Faculty
Advisors:
Dr. John Gilbert
Dr. Houssam Toutanji Contact
Members:
Ms. Lori Visone (Goolesby)
Dr. Teng K. Ooi Concrete
Canoe Project Manager:
Josh Burton Concrete
Canoe Project Engineer:
Matthew Pinkston Concrete
Canoe Team Captains:
To be announced. Coaches:
Shannon Ward
Dane Schoonover Professional Training and
Development:
Mr. John Bentley
Ms. Sarah Watts (Yeldell)
Mr. Todd Watts Media
Relations:
Mr. Ray Garner Technical
Editor:
Ms. Kay Bradburn |
|
Our competition
theme was...
We finished third behind Florida and FIT at the conference level with
"Masterpiece."
We placed first in the design report category.
A canvas of
concrete...
The outer layers of our boat included a mélange of
seemingly random textures and colors that blended together to form one
of the most amazing and technologically advanced structures on Earth.
While placing these cosmetic layers, each student was
encouraged to display their individual talent by doing things like
filling different pigmented concretes to different levels before
sanding, sanding layers at different times during the cure cycle,
adjusting the number layers in patches, and employing different grits
and sanding techniques. A
very interesting effect was created on the interior of the hull by
inverting the boat relative to placement of the concrete layer.
The bulk of the layer was initially placed over the male mold.
When the relatively light Perlite aggregates floated to the top
of this layer, the particles “disappeared” in the interior of the
hull. But, when the boat was
removed from the mold and the grooves left by the temporary spacers
filled, the Perlite became readily apparent.
By thinking “out-of-the-box” while striving collectively to
produce an “imperfectly perfect” product, we all were satisfied with
the outcome and enjoyed the journey taken together while creating our
engineering masterpiece.
Our philosophy...
Our concrete canoe was built to perk the interest of
students, educators, practitioners, and the general public in reinforced
concrete technology. The boat was intentionally designed to raise
questions and attract attention. Our goal was not to create
controversy but rather to build an awareness of the versatility and
durability of concrete as a construction material.
One thought, one
idea, one goal...
Our concrete canoe provided us an opportunity to work as
a team and gain hands-on, practical experience by working with different
concrete mix designs while employing unique construction and placement
techniques. The core of our
boat reflected the framework of knowledge built by our teams over the
past 22 years and formed the foundation upon which our creation rested.
Our “adaptive” composite section included the bilateral
symmetry seen prevalent in nature and the composition and orientation of
the fiber layers reflected attributes found in aquatic creatures that
have successfully evolved over millions of years.
We began placing the boat on February 24th after experiencing a
seven week delay
while developing our hull design.
But we picked up the slack and had the boat
ready for competition by the time that the conference began.
The boat was pretty heavy but we passed the
flotation test.
Our tabletop display and cutaway cross section
were informative...
and we had a good time promoting our final
product.
Alumni Notes...
We did pretty well considering that we had very few
veterans... and fell that we won in Knoxville... even though we didn't
place first in the competition. The bottom line is that we learned
a great deal and expect to be much stronger next year.
The University of Florida had the momentum in Knoxville
and they were virtually unstoppable. Our hats go off to them for
their hard work and dedication to the sport. We hope that the
Gators can bring the national title back to where it belongs... in the
Southeast!
We would like to thank our administration, corporate
sponsors, and alumni for their support. Special thanks are
extended to Jonathan Thrasher, Jackie Whitaker, Sarah Yeldell, Todd
Watts, David Ingram, and Dave Tidwell. We hope to see you all next
year!
Team Profiling...
People are our most valuable resource... and we worked
with John Bentley,
professional training and
development consultant from Power2Transform (P2T),
to create a winning team.
See the most recent P2T
Newsletter.
Back to Competition History
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