12 teams from six countries to race human powered submarines in Gosport
Twelve teams of university students from six countries will be meeting 7th-11th July 2014 to take part in the 2nd biennial European International Submarine Races at QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin in Gosport; the biggest covered water space in Europe.
The week-long event,is a unique sporting and engineering challenge. It tests the students' engineering skills, for every human powered submarine taking part is designed and built by the university concerned with vital amendments and adjustments and even re-building taking place during the week. It also tests their sporting prowess and stamina, for the teams race against the clock with the pilot wearing SCUBA gear and pedalling underwater around a demanding slalom course in the tank measuring 122m x 61m and 5.5m deep.
Teams competing for the 2014 awards are: École Polytechnique de Montréal, École de Technologie Supérieure and University of British Columbia all from Canada; Rhine Waal University of Applied Sciences from Germany; University of Delft from the Netherlands; University of Auckland from New Zealand; University of Michigan and University of Washington from the USA; and four teams from the UK with University of Bath, University of Plymouth, University of Southampton, and University of Warwick.
The eISR is organised by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology in partnership with QinetiQ; and the eminent judging panel is headed by Vice Admiral Sir Robert Hill, KBE, FIMarEST.
On Wednesday 9th July, the eISR plays host to a Graduate Fair and series of Master Classes, which are open to all, with a stimulating range of speakers including Huw James, the adventurer, astronomer and outdoors enthusiast, who will wrap up the day.
The day offers attendees - racers and visitors alike - the opportunity to hear about the challenges that flow through the in-and out-trays of working marine engineers. The Fair and Master Classes run alongside the Races, and will consist of a series of presentations by sponsoring companies, who will also have recruiters available to speak to young engineers.
Participants in the Master Classes will also be welcome to visit the races. The eISR Underwater Technology Master Classes and Graduate Fair are open to anyone with an interest in marine engineering, but those that will benefit most from the opportunities are third and final year engineering students, as well as recent graduates of engineering programmes - the full programme of Master Classes will be available at http://www.subrace.eu by Spring 2014.
In addition, the IMarEST is running a Stanley Grey Lecture providing an overview on the use of AUVs for monitoring and observation in the Submarine Museum on the evening of Tuesday 8th July to be given by Dr Gwyn Griffiths, Principal and founder of Autonomous Analytics. His experience with autonomous marine vehicles stretches back to 1989 when he began his involvement with the Autosub programme.
Full information on all aspects of the eISR including rules, layout of the course and visitor registration can be found at http://www.subrace.eu
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