By Nirad Jain
It's not the size that counts, it's the speed of your Johnson. No, this is not another one of those T-shirts that people see everywhere. Rather, it is the objective of the Columbia University Mechanical Engineering students who have teamed together to build a solar/electric powered boat for the 1995 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)/Johnson Controls SOLAR SPLASH Regatta. This is the first year that Columbia will enter the competition.
The object of the competition is to design a boat that runs either on battery power or on a hybrid battery-solar system. The Columbia team will join teams from all around the world at the regatta on June 14th. Teams compete in two sets of competitions. The first is a 200-meter sprint event; the second is an endurance event. In the endurance segment of the competition, teams are allotted two hours to cover the greatest distance possible. In addition to the races, the technical aspects of each team's design are also evaluated. A team must demonstrate that its design is safe and that its skipper can pass a swim test.
Every boat in the competition must adhere to a set of technical guidelines. If a team decides to incorporate solar collection devices in its design, it must verify that the output power does not exceed 480 watts. Furthermore, there are restrictions on the size and weight of the vessel.
The Columbia team will focus on the 137-page design report drafted by previous Columbia teams. Columbia's design for the competition is a carbon fiber composite catamaran mounted on twin structural hydrofoils. According to the team's schematics and proposal, the hydrofoil design allows the boat to sit atop the topmost layer of the water as it glides into higher speeds. The propulsion system consists of a Ducted Court Nozzle driven by an inboard 24 volt DC motor. In order to deliver the maximum voltage from the battery packs to the motor, the team will control the system via a pulse-width modulator control.
Since Columbia University does not directly fund this project, the team is currently searching for private donations. The goal is to collect $10,000 in order for the team to build the boat according to plan. The twenty-two student team feels confident that with adequate funding, it will be able to build a boat worthy of keen competition. Columbia's team will be competing against strong teams from around the world. Last year, the winner in both the sprint and endurance events was Kanazawa Institute of Technology from Japan. Other strong competitors included the University of Arkansas, the University of Michigan, and the University of Puerto Rico. Some of these teams are sure to return this year. In addition, many new teams will join this year's competition.
Team co-captain Michael Jenkins, SEAS '95, hopes that the team will be able to raise the funds for this project. He stresses that obtaining financial support is more feasible this year because the team has a concrete proposal to present to organizations and alumni. Jenkins further emphasizes that in addition to funding, the team is always looking for new participants. Anyone who is interested in the project can contact Jenkins through the Mechanical Engineering department or attend the meetings held every Tuesday at 12:15 in 294 Mudd.
From pg. 1+ of The Moment, 7 Dec. 1994