RUM’s solar boat is a succes in its first Solar Splash

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Cited from Prensa RUM “The Puerto Rican team, composed of 9 students and an Electrical Engineering professor, won second place in visual presentation; won the Sportmanship award and was 13th place in the event where 14 US universities, one from Canada and one Puerto Rico participated. “The boat was catamaran-like, 15 feet long by 7 feet wide with pre-fabricated floaters, a solar cell panel in the center and space for a pilot.” The trip wasn’t challenge free. The RUM team had to put the boat together in Arkansas. “We had problems with transportation because one of the boxes was too big and wouldn’t fit in the plane, so we had to cut the metal frame to make it smaller and then solder it back together”, said Dr. Eduardo Juan, professor in charge that traveled with the team. He said that the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Arkansas was extremely kind, lending them their tools and facilities. The boat had to be ready the next day. “The kids did not sleep that night. They had to put the boat together and rent a truck to transport it to the lake where the competition was taking place.” This project is part of a course that started a year ago with by the students initiative, when they got interested in working with solar energy, especially with water vehicles. This is how Watercraft Engineering was born.