A blast from the past
West Africa freshman Badara Diallo screamed for help from his teammates Saturday as his cardboard boat slowly sank into one of the Rose Ponds.
He did not know how to swim.
Grosse Pointe Woods sophomore Amy Alter said she was unaware Diallo could not swim.
“When the boat went under, I heard him yelling,” Alter said. “I started instructing him the best I could, telling him to keep kicking and to move his arms. I was scared for him because when I hit the water, I felt like my body was going to sink. The cold was so overwhelming, it was literally a shock.”
Diallo followed Alter to the side of the pond and stood up soaking wet, cold and covered with seaweed, but otherwise unharmed.
They were just two of more than 100 students from EGR 120: Introduction to Engineering and IET 120: Introduction to Engineering Technology to participate in the annual cardboard boat race. The Department of Engineering and Technology sponsored the race.
Each team designed a boat with a limited amount of materials, including five four-foot by eight-foot sheets of cardboard, six rolls of duct tape and five cans of Liquid Nails adhesive, said Jim Morrison, assistant professor of engineering and technology.
“It’s hard to do,” Morrison said. “Some boats always fail. This year, we had about 70 to 80 percent of the boats finish the race.”
Teams have to make it through both ponds in order to finish. Each team has to physically run its boat to enter it into the second pond.
Alter said their boat was fine until the second pond.
“That’s when we got into a little trouble,” Alter said. “I couldn’t even paddle anymore — my hands were so cold.”
Morrison said participants have to learn to work together as a team during the race.
“They have to pull together to finish,” Morrison said. “This is their chance to apply what they’ve learned in class, study it and now see it in action.”
Auburn sophomore Katy Foco of Team BAMF said all her team wanted to do was get across the pond without sinking. Team BAMF finished first place with a time of seven minutes, 45 seconds.
The record is 5:43.
