College of Engineering hosts cardboard boat races
The Engineering Student Council at Utah State University hosted the annual cardboard boat race on Feb. 21 in celebration of Engineers Week.
The hosts of this year’s event are Jace Collard and Andrew Gaudette, both current members of the E-Council.
“Boat racing is a very exciting event — in fact I’d say it’s the biggest part of EWeek,” Gaudette said. “I think it’s a great way to show your school spirit.”
According to the hosts, the goal is to build a boat and paddles out of cardboard and duct tape. The boats compete in a series of challenges: a race, a floating challenge and a design competition. Teams of at least two or more are required.
The club had planned to adopt a new challenge this year, the dodgeball challenge, but they decided against the addition because the boats don’t tend to last long in water.
“Even after the race, a few have already sunk,” Collard said. “That’s as many events as we can see working where there’s going to be enough boats.”
Prizes will be awarded to the fastest boat and the boat that can hold the most people for the longest amount of time. The audience will decide who wins the design competition.
The teams this year consisted mainly of clubs under the College of Engineering.
“We know that every club of engineering is doing one,” Collard said.
Registration for the event was open to anyone.
“It doesn’t have to be only engineers,” Gaudette said. “Any student is allowed to compete during this event.”
Other members of the E-Council will be participating in the event, led by Adam Barney, the membership director.
The cardboard boat races are a part of a larger celebration for Engineers Week, which is celebrated nationwide, from Feb. 18-24.
According to the National Society of Professional Engineers, “EWeek promotes recognition among parents, teachers, and students of the importance of a technical education and a high level of math, science, and technology literacy, and motivates youth, to pursue engineering careers in order to provide a diverse and vigorous engineering workforce.”
Many of the other clubs under the College of Engineering are holding their own events and activities for EWeek. Some events include a pinewood derby, an ultimate trivia night and an egg drop challenge.
“This week is just a way to give back to all the engineers,” Gaudette said.
According to Barney, EWeek is a great way for the community of engineers to come together and support each other, especially within an educational field that is so demanding.
“A lot of engineers don’t realize that there’s an engineering community,” Barney said. “Part of it is that engineering’s hard, and you get busy and there is a lot of homework.”
Barney said because of the challenges that come with engineering, retention for the community is dwindling.
“A lot of engineers would benefit from getting involved with the community like meeting other engineers, making friends and just being aware of the support group you have,” Barney said. “People you can reach out to for help, and also just feeling more connected to the College of Engineering.”