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Home : Student Life : E-boat Team
The E-Boat Team
Solar Splash 2009
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The University of New Orleans School of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering (NAME) Solar/Electric boat (e-boat) team began in 1996 where it first competed in the Solar Splash, the World Championship of Intercollegiate Solar/Electric Boat Racing. Under the leadership of numerous undergraduate students, the e-boat project has grown into the prominent extracurricular design project for undergraduate NAME students and other engineering majors. In May 2009, the team won 1st place in the Sprint World Championships, and 1st in the Endurance World Championships, taking 2nd prize overall, tied for its best finish ever. The last 8 years that UNO has competed, it has been Sprint World Champions 7 times! UNO has set multiple record times including the current record: 22.32 seconds over 300 meters in the 2009 Final, over 35 mph!
The Sprint and Endurance World Champion boat entry from 2009 was designed in 2001 and first raced in 2002. The boat saw competition in ’02, ’03, and ’05 before Hurricane Katrina interrupted the team’s established attendance at the Solar Splash competition. In 2008 a team of undergraduate students re-started the project, taking 5th place overall, leading to the 2nd place overall finish in 2009. The team is looking to improve upon its 2009 finish at the 2010 Solar Splash held June 9-13, 2010 again at Lake Fayetteville, AR.
To achieve success in this dynamic, multi-discipline project, much help is needed from the students of the College of Engineering, not just NAME
students. The advanced photovoltaic system demands the knowledge of Electrical Engineering majors, while the high RPM drive-train requires Mechanical Engineers to design and build. The unique high-strength, carbon-fiber hull calls for Civil Engineers to develop, and the dynamically lifted hull and custom-designed propeller makes this a Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering pinnacle design project. The College of Engineering regards this as a multi-disciplinary design project.
Solar Splash 2009
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May 27-31, 2009, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Here are some pictures from this year's competition. Videos can be found
in the Links section below.
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The whole 2009 race team
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Race preparations
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Justin gets ready for the endurance race
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Endurance race
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Blake leads the sprint race
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World record in the making
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Trophy presentation. From left to right:
Ryan Thiel, Daniel Givan, Fatih Kan, Team Captain Blake Elliot,
and Justin Billiot
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Want to join?
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Students, to become involved in this exciting project, please contact the team-captain, Blake Elliott, at celliott@uno.edu for information and meeting time. All work is for no compensation or course credit, but looks excellent to potential employers on a résumé and gets you involved with practical engineering design applications.
To make the Solar/Electric boat financially possible, the team requires assistance from a variety of companies and businesses in the New Orleans community and beyond. In 2009 the team’s sponsors included Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Nucon Marine Corporation (MI), Vorus & Associates Inc., and Houma Armature Works.
Those interested in sponsoring the team’s effort in 2010, please contact the secretary of the School of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering, Janet Felix, at (504) 280-7182 or jfelix@uno.edu. You may decide to sponsor the team through financial donation, gifts or services, or you may choose to purchase a specific item for the team. Get creative. The Solar/Electric boat is representative of the comeback story of the city of New Orleans and the success realized by so many alumni of the College of Engineering.
For more information on the project, see the following links:
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