Crowd favourite
This past weekend, some engineering students travelled to Kitchener, ON to compete in the GNCTR 2018, which is the annual Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race.
Since part of the competition is to choose themes for the sleds, members of the team dressed as mummers, went as 'Team MUMMorial' and called their sled, The Ugly Stick.”
Team MUMMmorial, which consisted of 18 civil engineering students and two mechanical engineering students, was one of 19 teams from across Canada and the U.S. to compete in GNCTR 2018, which tasked students to design and build a toboggan with concrete runners that has a fully functioning steering and braking system; weighs less than 350 pounds; and handles an impact at 65 kilometres per hour. The competition included three events – Drag Race, Slalom and King of the Hill.
While “The Ugly Stick,” wasn’t one of the six toboggans to cross the finish line, it did make it one third of the way down the hill and got through one gate in the slalom event. The team also won two awards – ‘Best New Team’ and ‘People’s Choice.’
“I am super proud of everyone on the team for signing up for something we knew very little about,” said Molly Noseworthy, team co-captain. “Even though our toboggan didn’t cross the finish line, we felt that it stood up against the other toboggans and we learned so much and have ideas on how to improve the sled for next year’s competition and how to configure the riders in the sled to maximize results.”
To prepare for the competition, the team met weekly to work on the aluminum design and tackle administrative tasks such as sponsorships, fundraising and a technical report.
“One of the highlights, for sure, was winning the ‘People’s Choice’ award, said Ms. Noseworthy. “We were a new, and relatively small, team and to attend a banquet among 500 engineering students and to be chosen as the people’s choice was rewarding.”
Since 1975, GNCTR has become the oldest and largest engineering competition in Canada, challenging over 400 engineering students from across the country to design, build, and safely race toboggans with a running surface made entirely of concrete.
This is the fourth year that students from Memorial have competed in the race. The team is proud of their efforts leading up to and at the event, learned a lot and are super-stoked to compete again next year.