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Next Chapter Meeting: Wednesday, April 3rd @ 7:00 p.m. in Tech Hall
Room S105
The effort was dedicated to Neil Armstrong and the team of engineers and scientists who were responsible for the first moon landing. Anyone interested in paddling please email Katie as soon as possible so we can begin deciding on paddling times. We need men and women who can devote time to this each semester so that we can perfect our technique and build our strength and become a strong team at competition. If you don't know how to paddle, don't worry. We will teach you everything you need to know. Just get in touch with Katie and we will begin our practices. "For the Record," we have compiled a comprehensive summary spanning the twenty-three year history (1988-2011) of the national concrete canoe competitions and we co-sponsor ConcreteCanoe.org, the world's largest data base on concrete canoeing. Our site includes tips on how to compete at the ASCE/MBT NCCC, and provides links to the concrete canoe websites of many schools including the most recent national qualifiers and past NCCC champions. Chek out our 2011 NCCC Coverage. We have posted vital statistics, as well as photographs of the concrete canoes, displays, and awards presented at past national competitions [2010 Vital Statistics - Presentations and Boats, 2009 NCCC Vital Statistics -Presentations and Boats, 2008 Vital Statistics - Presentations and Boats; 2007 Vital Statistics - Presentations and Boats; 2006 Vital Statistics - Presentations and Boats; 2005 Vital Statistics - Presentations and Boats, 2004 Vital Statistics - Presentations and Boats, 2003 Vital Statistics - Presentations and Boats; 2002 Vital Statistics - Papers, Presentations, Boats, and Displays; 2002 ASCE/MBT NCCC Racing Awards; and, 2001 Vital Statistics - Displays and Boats]. We have archived our performances from the beginning (1986-present), and our competition history is interesting and informative. Alan Burr commented, in the December, 2003 issue of The Structural Engineer (article), that there is a really good chance that some of the cementitious composites that we are developing will replace standard aerospace composites and, as far as concrete canoeing is concerned, the Huntsville Times (article) says: "UAH can do it best.". We have received Congressional funding to explore this possibility and have high hopes of using our concrete to support telescopes in space, for rocket fuselages, to build a lunar colony -- or for low-cost emergency shelters on Earth. The Department of Defense has underwritten our efforts and we have used the U.S. Army’s state-of-the-art, Remote Readiness Asset Prognostic and Diagnostic System (RRAPDS) to quantify the dynamic performance of our concrete canoes. The Army is currently developing RRAPDS for missile/munitions health monitoring. The system features wireless communication links and sensors that have been tailored for our use. Our designs have been described on the front page of the MARKETPLACE section of the Wall Street Journal (article), and in Canoe and Kayak Racing News (article), the official publication of the U.S. Olympic Team. Team UAH has proudly represented the Southeast fifteen times at the ASCE/MBT National Concrete Canoe Competition (official web site) and, in our last eleven appearances there, have won the competition five times and placed second three times. Please feel free to listen to our audio introduction (.wav file) and check our current events page to learn more about what Team UAH is doing now. We were invited to discuss our innovative design approach, construction techniques, and racing strategies at the 1999 ASCE National Convention (article), and the method for placing one of our concrete canoes was featured in Boys' Life Magazine (article). Our adaptive reinforcement scenario and compliance based designs are no secret (article), and many of the national competitors have adopted them. The technology underlying these advancements has been featured in periodicals ranging from Civil Engineering Magazine (article) and Experimental Techniques (article) to Space.com and Oldcastle News (article). Human interest stories and commentaries have appeared in periodicals such as Paddler Magazine (article) and the Smithsonian (article). So, whether you are just getting started building a concrete canoe, or want to be in the top five at the ASCE/MBT NCCC, you won't find a more comprehensive or informative source than Team UAH! We hope that you enjoy your visit. Please read this as a courtesy to us. Come back soon, and often, because the best is yet to come. So... "C'mon join our team!"
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