After exploring many options, the Hull Design team has decided to use BearBoatSP as a software to design our canoe. The team has done extensive research on potential shapes and features and has made some decisions up to this point, for example to use a shallow arch hull design. The team also began running example canoe designs with different lengths and dimensions on BearBoatSP. The team will further consider the possible combinations of features and dimensions to ultimately produce the best design.

Megan and Mickey have been hard at work with the mix design over this past month. They have acquired a desired list of materials to begin testing different mixes. Megan and Mickey have decided to make the canoe out of two different mixes, one in the inside for support and one on the outside to act as a waterproof layer.  Currently, the mix design team is testing the effects of new materials (using cubes) on basic mixes in order to determine if these new materials should be considered for the final mix used for the canoe.

The mix design team has been working on finalizing a list of materials. Through literature research and the review of the rules and regulations, the mix is going to consist of Portland cement, cenosophere and Poraver aggregates to increase the strength and decrease the density, and addmixtures to increase the air content and workability. There are other materials we plan to research in the upcoming weeks in order to begin the creation of our concrete canoe mix.

The hull design team has been doing extensive research regarding the type of software we will be using for the design of our canoe. In the past the team has used Maxsurf, but we decided to explore other options after receiving feedback on it. It turns out there are many programs capable of doing this type of work whether they are specifically for boat design or they are general design programs that reference marine applications. We are currently exploring BearboatSP and FreeShip programs. A final decision will be made on the software after we compare the accuracy, capabilities, and efficiency of the two programs. Stay tuned for the big reveal!