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Solar boat will make 'Splash' in contest
October 16, 2002 (Lewiston Tribune)

By, Amy Hammervold, Contributing Writer

Speed. Endurance. Sunlight.

The three things a new club at WSU needs in order to win a competition this June.

Solar Splash, a new intercollegiate competition in which members design a solar boat, is a five day contest.

The competition will take place in Buffalo, New York, said Dr. Belakavadi R. Ramaprian, director of the school of mechanical and materials engineering.

"There are two different races within the race," said Paul M. Booker, secretary of the Solar Splash Club. "There is a sprint race, which is when your boat sprints 300 meters as fast as it can, and an endurance race which is where you race to go as many laps as you can in two hours."

Most of the clubs materials have been donated from different companies, Booker said.

"The companies are interested in supporting students, especially to support a good cause," he said.

"So far, we have software to design the boat, and we have some potential solar panels," Booker said. "We also received $500 worth of fiberglass from a company called Fiberlay, and a company called Janicki Industry has agreed to donate a boat mold once we come up with the design."

This is the first year WSU will have a team competing in Solar Splash.

"Paul and I went to Solar Splash last summer to gain experience and knowledge about the competition and to see what the boats look like and what their budgets were like," said Meghann T. Green, president of Solar Splash. "Our goal is to finish both races, and if we finish both races, we will finish in the top five easily."

Solar Splash will meet at 6 p.m. every Thursday in the Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Building Room 152. They also have a design groups that will meet outside of the regular meetings. Construction of the boat will take place in an engineering lab with space set aside for the club.