Like it or not, my friends, Valentine's Day is upon us. All the signs are there: conversation hearts, assorted chocolates, handmade valentines...the Love Boat. And I'm not talkin' reruns of Capt. Stubing and his dreamy crew. I'm talking 'bout The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale's annual Love Boats Float in the Moat event.
On Feb. 9, the school's industrial design students put their ingenuity and pride on the line, all for the sake of a grade. Their task? To design a vessel that floats by using the following criteria:
- The boats had to be 24" wide by 36" long.
- The student could only use 1/4" x 3/4" wooden sticks covered with one layer of brown craft paper and waterproofed with one coat of varnish. (Did someone say MacGyver??)
- The maximum depth could not exceed 12" and have a v-shaped bottom.
- The most important: the boat had to support the student's weight and not sink.
Next, the students tested their vessels in the college's 16-inch deep reflection pool. Let's see how some of them fared.
Thar she floats...and it has my name written all over it.
Alert: abandon vessel.
Such form, such ease!
So close...
This one's on fire!
Wanna see more of the students in action? Check out this video footage, courtesy of the Sun-Sentinel: http://tinyurl.com/bamzz5.
