Students can do a concrete canoe
Sacramento Bee 4/8/07
Add some blood, sweat and tears -- and poof: a floating concrete canoe.
For months, in a dusty laboratory on the grounds of California State University, Sacramento, two dozen engineering students have been concocting a recipe for success in the annual Concrete Canoe Competition.
The team's entry is a 20-foot hull dubbed "Ride the Lightning" that, at least on Saturday, looked incapable of skimming over water with lightning speed.
"We'll make it go as fast as concrete can possibly move in water," said Christine Jansen, the team's paddling coach.
"It's simple physics: mass distribution and buoyancy," said Jansen, a senior soon to graduate with a degree in civil engineering.
Translation: "It just has to be lighter than water. It's pretty basic."
The school has come close to winning the national contest, placing second in 1998 and 1995. In recent years, it's been tougher getting out of regionals, which will be held later this month in San Jose.
For the moment, the vessel's hull is the texture of stucco. In the coming weeks, students hope to transform their creation into something that will surely float the boats of competition judges -- something slick, flashy and splashy.
It'll take lots of sandpaper, paint and imagination, they concede.
Members of the Sacramento team liken their efforts to the little canoe that could. "People are surprised with how much we do with how little we have," said team member Francesca Grosjean.
Despite a $3,000 budget the Sacramento team has managed to stay in the competition and remain, well, financially afloat.
Rivals from the Berkeley and Davis campuses of the University of California receive far more donations and outside support.
It's been a labor of love and dedication, said Ali Porbaha, a professor of civil engineering, who has been advising the students on how to build a stronger, faster canoe.
"It doesn't look very nice right now -- it's still under construction -- but when it's done, it will look real nice," Porbaha said.
The annual competition is an educational experience, he said. Students not only learn about the properties of construction materials, but about design and project management. They are expected to sell their project, and write a report -- which, in addition to their canoe's aesthetics and speed, will be judged during the competition.
"They've been able to bring it up to a very high level, even if they don't have much resources," said Porbaha.
Nurmi, the team's captain, pleaded with a visitor to refrain from divulging his team's recipe for concrete, which was scrawled on a blackboard amid bags of cement, microscopic glass beads heaped atop an ashen floor.
"You can say what materials we used, but please don't put the numbers in there," Nurmi said.
The well-guarded recipe, said Chris Dixon, another member of the team, produces a canoe that is light, strong and has a good balance.
"We're adding something new this year," Dixon added. But, "we don't want it to get out."