NETSCo is working to make a difference to inspire today’s youth in the maritime engineering field by sponsoring, and providing guidance and support to the “Student Design Competition” held at the 2017 SNAME Maritime Convention.
Rich Mueller, President of NETSCo said, “We have been sponsoring the SNAME Student Design Competition for college students for nine years. It is our honor to engage these students in complex engineering issues while offering a fun opportunity to interact with the NETSCo engineering team. This competition is a great way to capture their interest in a career in naval architecture and/or marine engineering through interactive problem solving and creative-thinking with their peers.”
This year over 180 students, from more than 15 colleges and universities across the globe, participated in the competition. Having limited materials and time, the teams designed and created a sailing vessel, which needed to meet the design criteria, and face additional challenges presented to the team.
The required vessel size was a minimum of 14 inches wide and no longer than 20 inches with at least one transverse bulkhead, located no less than five inches from the bow. The vessel also had to carry additional cargo weight of two pounds during the transport run.
To add a layer of complexity to the project, two holes were punctured in the forward compartment one inch in front of the bulkhead and below the waterline. Scoring was based on the time and successful completion for the vessel to traverse from one end of the pool to the other. The competition allows students to observe and utilize the basic concepts of naval architecture and marine engineering such as ballasting, directional stability, efficiency, and teamwork.
Winners of the competition included: Hannah Toerner, Texas A & M; Tyler Gray-Hoehn, Webb Institute; Parker Rodrigues, Texas A & M; Nicole McClusker, Florida Tech; Kateria Polemis, University of Michigan; Megan Green, Webb Institute; Andrew Upeter, Webb Institute; Gabe Zegby, US CGA; Harry Hoffman, US CGA; Megan Rice, US CGA; Alice Panek, Webb Institute; Brandon Lewis, Webb Institute.
