“Concrete + Sled + Hill = BRILLIANT IDEA”

On January 26th, 11 members of the Waterloo ‘B’ toboggan team, joined by 2 members of the Waterloo ‘A’ team, traveled to Edmonton for the 37th annual Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR) hosted by the University of Alberta. Over four days, their 300lb toboggan with a concrete running surface was judged against 19 other submissions on innovative design, sustainability, safety, performance and its braking system.

Unlike many other design competitions, GNCTR is as focused on the technical aspects as it is on spirit and team enthusiasm. To put it simply, the competition is much like a mini version of frosh week. Teams chose a theme, make costumes, create cheers and dances. The day focuses on practical applications of engineering principles and are followed with parties that continue into the early morning. You would be lucky to find students with more than 4 hours of sleep a night.

This year, UW’s team chose “Slednecks” as their theme. Other notable engineering entries were University of Calgary’s “Sledimentary My Dear Watson”, Alberta’s “Sheep” and Toronto’s “Dr. Suess” complete with Thing cos(0) and Thing √4.

On the first night, opening ceremonies were held to welcome the 400 engineering students, teams were given a few minutes to present their themes in skit, before partying the night away.

The next day students were bussed to U of A’s campus where East faced West in mini challenges, including newspaper bridge design, “Are you smarter than a Frosh”, tug of war and a dodgeball tournament. As with most things, the fun shared with new friends was what really mattered, not the results (Read as: the West won).

The second morning brought forth a wonderful surprise of bacon for all the competitors, courtesy of the McMaster team and their skillets. It was a wonderful start to the Technical Exhibit, which displayed each team’s toboggan for the first time of the competition. The UW team recreated a redneck’s yard in their booth, complete with empty cans and a welcome mat. Throughout the day, judges evaluated the sleds at each booth and inquired about the mix design, braking system, frame and construction process. In the meantime, the hundreds of engineering students managed to entertain each other with mini games, dance instruction, jump rope, trolley races, baseball games, tag, chanting, washer ring toss and even a murder mystery game.

At last, the most exciting day of the competition arrived… RACE DAY. Held on a ski hill divided into two lanes, the teams finally were able to test the toboggans they had spent the past months designing. Fitted in black coveralls, Waterloo’s team journeyed down the hill, most of it upright and in the toboggan. Unfortunately, Waterloo suffered the same steering and flipping complications as other schools and did not complete their first run. After the first round of races and only having 3 of the 19 teams with a successful run, it was determined that the man made ramp leading onto the hill was not large enough to accommodate the sizes of the sled. For round 2, teams were given the option of starting below the ramp. This worked wonders for Waterloo and they completed the run, reaching a maximum speed of over 40km/hr.

With the speed competition finished, the fun King of the Hill races began. Two teams raced simultaneously down the hill, with the winner going on to the next round. In the first round, Waterloo seemed to be far in the lead, but then the pins used to steer failed to recoil, and instantly the sled flipped. Thankfully, no one from our team was injured. The University of Saskatchewan ended up winning the event.

It was an additional bonus that Rick Mercer attended and filmed both the Tech Exhibit and Race. U of A invited him to steer their toboggan in one run and ride in it in another. Without spoiling what happened, UofA team 1, Hill 1. For highlights of the race day go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMaUrb9Y4kA . Smiles and laughs guaranteed.

Like all good things, the competition came to an end with a banquet and award ceremony. Overall, while the Waterloo ‘B’ team was one of the smaller teams, they came in 8th. They also received honorable mention for their technical report, being commended on their excellent research and design.

One final reminder, this student team is open to ALL years and disciplines. Whether you are interested in the design, construction, report, sponsorship or social/spirit aspects please consider the UW GNCTR team. The stigma that this team is only a 4th year civil team has negatively affected our performance and we want to change it. For more information on how to get involved (Waterloo A or B) go to the website www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/gnctr .

Again, congrats to the Waterloo ‘B’ team! You guys did an amazing job! We hope for the same successes next year in 2012 (Location still to be determined).