6th Human-Powered Submarine Races

INTERNATIONAL SUBMARINE RACES

For Immediate Release Media Contact: John Hussey, ISR: 757-229-8585 Email: [email protected]Website: www.isrsubrace.org

6TH HUMAN-POWERED SUBMARINE RACES TO BE HELD AT PREMIER NAVY FACILITY

BETHESDA, MD. May 10, 2001 --One and two-person teams will participate in the 6th running of the International Human-Powered Submarine Races (ISR), a biennial engineering design competition June 11- 15 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Carderock Division in Bethesda, Maryland.

This will be the third time that the design competition will be staged at the 3200-foot-long David Taylor Model Basin test tank at NSWC. The submarine races are a challenge that began in 1989 and have grown to an event that has seen the participation of universities, colleges, corporations, research centers, high schools and privately sponsored teams from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe. Typical teams consist of student athlete/engineers, wearing scuba gear, who provide propulsion and navigation as their subs run against the clock along a fixed underwater course. The competition focuses upon the educational aspects of submarine team efforts, such as use of materials, efficiency of hydrodynamics, propulsion and underwater air supply and life support systems. Previous races saw the creation of world speed marks and the emergence of a new category of high-speed underwater performance from one-person designs.

"The Naval Surface Warfare Center is proud to host the 2001 International Submarine Races at its David Taylor Model Basin," said Captain Steven Petri, USN, Division Commander. "We are pleased to be able to once again support such an outstanding educational and engineering endeavor." Major corporate sponsors are Electric Boat Corporation, Newport News Shipbuilding, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Oceaneering International, Nauticos, and Tycom.

Seventeen participating teams are: Texas A&M University, University of Washington, Lawrence Tech University, Southfield, MI, Virginia Tech University, University of Michigan, University of Maryland (two teams), University of Quebec, University of British Columbia, US Merchant Marine Academy, Millersville University (PA), University of California at Santa Barbara, Winston Churchill High School (Potomac, MD), Wheaton Submarine Works (Wheaton, MD), Bruce Plazyk, Wheaton, IL, Donald Burton, Frederick, MD, and Robert Golobic, Wellington, FL.

The ISR events, including technical seminars for aspiring teams, are part of an all-volunteer effort including senior Navy personnel, individuals from major corporations, research centers and other interested companies and organizations. Judging is based on a combination of a team's ratings in innovation, speed, design, and best use of composite materials.

The NSWC's hydrodynamic facility is the world's largest test center for a wide variety of experimental requirements. The David Taylor Model Basin houses deep, shallow and high-speed tanks. The human-powered submarine competition takes place in a 2,000 feet length of the 22-foot deep tank that will provide ample room for testing speed, hydrodynamics, propulsion and other innovations.

The building of human-powered submarines has a colorful history, dating back more than 200 years. But in 1989 it took a different slant when the first ISR competition was held in the Atlantic Ocean off Singer Island, Florida. Each submarine represents many months, if not years, of work by engineering students or individual entrepreneurs. The goal is to design an underwater vehicle that can be powered successfully through the course without malfunctioning, crashing into the bottom, popping to the surface or simply failing to move through the water. During the last race, Team OMER, from University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada, shattered the world speed record with an 8-mile per hour performance from its sleek "Omer 3" one-person submarine. That race also saw the first all-female teams compete.

For information on the model basin, contact Tom Warring, NSWC public affairs office at 301-227-4465. The Carderock website can be viewed at: www.dt.navy.mil.

ISR Organization, P. O. Box 563, Allentown, NJ 08501 * Ph 201-823-9334, ext. 112 * Fax 609-259-5842