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Jordan Fischer / Alligator Staff
Brad Choi, left, makes sure the paint shines on the UF
concrete canoe Wednesday afternoon. Choi and fellow members of
the UF Concrete Canoe Team will put their IntimiGator canoe to
the test this weekend in the Southeast Regional Concrete Canoe
Competition in Tallahassee. |
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People look at graduate student
Brad Choi strangely when he tells them about the canoe he and fellow
civil engineering students will race this weekend at a competition
in Tallahassee.
Probably because it’s made of
concrete.
Choi and fellow members of the UF Concrete Canoe
Team will put their IntimiGator canoe to the test this weekend in
the Southeast Regional Concrete Canoe Competition in Tallahassee,
and Choi promises the canoe will float.
“At regional
competitions, there are always one or two schools that sink,” Choi
said.
The team is fighting for the chance to go to the
national competition this summer in Madison, Wis. More than 250
universities from 20 regions participate nationwide in the
competitions, which the American Society of Civil Engineers sponsors
annually.
Although there is no monetary award for regionals,
the top three national winners split a $9,000 prize. The winner
receives $5,000 of that.
Elia Twigg, one of the canoe
paddlers and also an engineering graduate student, said the team has
been to nationals once in her five years on the team but usually
places at least second or third in the regionals.
“Last year
we lost by one point to [the University of] Alabama-Huntsville,”
Twigg said. “And they went on to win nationals.”
The race is
not the only part on which the team will be judged. Choi said they
create a display and give an oral presentation. A technical report
also was required, which Choi said the group submitted a month
ago.
The teams will spend Friday giving their presentations
and exhibiting their displays, Choi said. Only 30 percent of the
final score will come from the races, which takes place
Saturday.
“When it comes down to it, it’s still an academic
competition,” Choi said.
The entire process is a year-long
project for the team. They began preparing for regionals in August.
Not only did they create their own lighter-than-water
concrete and build the 105-pound canoe, they also made fiberglass
IntimiGator replicas for practices. Because of the time it takes to
build the canoe, they aren’t able to use it until the
competition.
Altogether, Choi said his team has put in about
3,000 hours to prepare for the project. The six paddlers practiced
four times a week on Lake Wauburg, while other team members built
the canoe and display.
The teams do not spend all that time
to compete solely for honor or money, though. The competition also
looks good on their resumes, Twigg said.
“There’s a lot of
engineering principles involved,” she said.
Although the
team has not won first in her years here, they did place eighth in
the 2000 nationals. The team will head to nationals this year if
they either win the regionals or come in second under
Huntsville.
But Twigg feels confident they will rise to the
top this year.
“We’re better this year than any other year
I’ve been involved.” |
