Student Design Teams Reorganize and Redirect Two mechanical engineering senior design teams’ mission to bring Tesla-like efficiency to the water took a dive when classes went virtual. Gas-powered boat engines cause many problems for the environment. The noise of a gaspowered engine can disrupt marine ecosystems, and because the engines use fossil fuels, they directly contribute to man-made climate change. The two teams, led by Alex Stickel and Joseph Canlas, started their more environmentally friendly designs in the fall semester as part of a yearlong senior design project. Their mission was to build the hull of a ship and an electric propulsion system to create a fuel-efficient design that could compete in the American Society of Naval Engineers’ (ASNE) annual competition, Promoting Electrical Propulsion for Small Craft Initiative. Their project was also sponsored by ASNE. After the fall semester ended, the hull and propulsion teams decided on their final designs. “On the hull side, we ended up choosing a skinny trimaran main hull with two branches shooting off of it,” says Stickel. “Ultimately, for the propulsion system, we decided to convert a gas outboard power unit to an electrically run system,” says Canlas.
10 VOLGENAU SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING ANNUAL REPORT 2020
