PHOTO ESSAY: The Engineering Students Compete at the Ratliff Relays

Bottle Rockets, Cardboard Canoes, Oh My!

The 979 Bandits (left) struggle to keep their cardboard canoe, Ship Happens, from tipping over. The Killer Bass nearly collides with them as both crews paddle around a buoy in Harvey Lake during the cardboard canoe races. Teams had to use their engineering skills to create their boats. Photo by ASHLE Y WORLEY.

By ASHLEY WORLEY/ Contributor

Every year students in the College of Engineering take part in the Ratliff Relays, a series of competitions on and near Harvey Lake. It is an opportunity for student to put their engineering skills to the test by making bottle rockets, models and cardboard canoes.

The Ratcliff Relays were held Oct. 19. Multimedia journalist Ashley Worley was there to capture the action.

 

 

The Underdogs proudly present their cardboard canoe, Speedy, before launching it into Harvey Lake. Engineering students had to display posters that explained their team’s design strategy. Photo by ASHLEY WORLEY.
The Olympians, a team made up of construction management and civil engineering students, furiously row their cardboard canoe The Eternal Flame around a buoy in Harvey Lake. Contenders in the cardboard canoe races had to keep their boats afloat while paddling from one end of Harvey Lake to another. Photo by ASHLEY WORLEY.
A mechanical engineering student is startled when his bottle rocket takes off. Launching bottle rockets was part of the Ratliff Relays competition at Harvey Lake. Engineering students took part in competitions in which they put their skills to test. Photo by ASHLEY WORLEY.

 

Mylee Anderson, left, and her team of mechanical engineering students gather with their bottle rocket before the start of the Ratliff Relays competitions at Harvey Lake. The team’s previous bottle rocket exploded during its test flight – and Anderson has the bruise to prove it. Photo by ASHLEY WORLEY.