Inspire, Fall/Winter 2010

Sometimes I think my entire engineering education can be summed up into conserving tape. To be a truly good engineer, you have to know where you can skimp on tape and where you need to reinforce. I’ve been in a number of engineering competitions where this has been a chief skill — I just wish it looked better on my resume. Every year at homecoming, engineering freshmen compete in a cardboard canoe race across Cedar Lake. The race has become so popular that the competition has been opened up to other groups on campus. The only materials participants are given to build a canoe are 40 feet of cardboard and a single roll of tape. The tape is easy to put on but not so easy to take off. My freshman year, the canoe race was pretty stressful. My team spent about 30 hours building our boat. I don’t remember how it placed, but it made it across the lake. The Centennial Library’s team was not as fortunate, sinking almost immediately. As a library worker, it was up to me and my co-worker, Aaron Ikehara ’09, an electrical engineering major, to reclaim the library’s honor the next year. How to Build a Better Boat We started by implementing ideal design features: shorter sides and a wide bottom. Our main goal was to reduce the sink depth of the boat so it would almost glide on top of the water. The library had the fastest boat in the water that year but failed to claim the “King of the Lake” title — given to the last surviving boat at the demolition derby. The library claimed the trophy, but almost no bragging rights. During my junior year, we used a similar design and added more library workers to our building crew: Nate Dolan ’11, a mechanical engineering major, and Michael Cox ’11, a physics major. Michael rowed across the lake with senior nursing major Rachel Latario ’10. We recaptured the trophy as the fastest department boat, but once again our boat did not capture the “King of the Lake” title, though we came in a close second. As a senior, I felt it was imperative to keep the library’s winning streak alive. The library employs many science and engineering majors, which — rumor has it — is for the sole purpose of defending the title. Imagine the shame of losing to a bunch of freshmen and liberal arts majors: Dr. Robert Chasnov, professor of engineering, and my engineering classmates would never let us live that down. Once again, Michael, Nate, and I worked on the design. Nate handled the calculations, and I supervised the less-technical team members responsible for manufacturing, which meant properly allocating the tape. We cut the tape in 3- and 4-inch strips, and then we cut each strip in half. One of the things I love about building the library boat is that the whole staff gets involved. Each person has his or her own particular way of cutting the tape and loves to come up with ways to make things easier. It’s a good team, and they think like problem-solving engineers. Knowing this was our final chance to lead the canoe construction, Nate, Michael, and I focused on passing down the canoe-building traditions and solid designs we’ve used. We hope they will continue the tradition for years to come. by Cedarville student Jillanne Conway ’11 Nate Dolan ‘11 and Jillanne Conway ‘11 build the Centennial Library’s cardboard canoe. my cedarv i l le Queen of the Lake 16 fall/winter 2010