UMass Magazine Online

Summer 2003

Departments

Around the Pond

Features

The Vast Area of Small

Tiny couch potatoes

Pumped-up Roosters

The pervasive presence of microbes

At-risk Native Talk

Our giant in hedge funds

Around the Pond

Elemental engineers




	photo by Paul Franz

BEHIND BLUE AND WHITE BUOYS, racers jockey to hold their canoes in position, a gentle steer to the left, a slight back paddle. At the sound of the air horn, paddles slice through water, canoes move forward. Move, not leap – for these canoes are made of concrete.

Civil engineering students contend every spring in what might seem the strangest of events – the concrete canoe competition. UMass has had a team almost every year since 1974, and the basics of the project – concrete mixes analysis, strength of materials and material testing, project management and finances – are skills needed by civil engineers.

UMass hosted the regional competition on April 27 at Northampton’s Oxbow Marina, with entries from Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the universities of Maine, Rhode Island and Hartford. Canoes were judged for design, construction, presentation and race standings. UMass placed third in the rankings, a fine showing, said faculty advisor Sergio Breña.

Heats of three teams contend in the 200-meter men’s sprint, women’s sprint, and co-ed sprint, and the 600-meter men and women’s endurance.

Concrete can float depending on design and mix, but it’s touchy and won’t stand much abuse. One visiting team’s canoe suffered a fatal break in transit; others nursed leaks and minor cracks.

The 2003 UMass canoe, “The Minuteman,” is 21 feet 8 inches long and weighs 200 pounds without paddlers. Sixteen civil engineering students worked on it.

“It’s a really good experience,” says Liz Abbanat, a senior in civil engineering. Students get to apply these things they’ve learned. “That’s what engineering is all about – problem solving.”

THIS "PUMPKIN BALLOON" IS NOT a work of art, but a means of studying the ozone hole that opens every spring over the Northern Hemisphere. UMass scientists are working on a version of the balloon that can withstand altitudes of 13 miles, carrying small computers and sensors. Paul Voss, at right, a researcher in atmospheric sciences who heads the project, says the new balloons could help determine what causes the ozone loss over our region.

[top of page]

A May Day celebration

Du Bois: Larger image

Digging for answers at Du Bois' home

Digging: More images

Budget Update

It's not just about cuts

Pollin: Larger image

Let's hear it for the class of 2003!

Let's Hear it: More images

Make my day

Make my day: Larger image