Engineering Students Make Waves with Cardboard Boat Race

On Monday, May 12, students from our Engineering Principles class once again made a splash with the return of the much-anticipated Cardboard Boat Race—a hands-on tradition that blends STEAM, creativity, and a little bit of daring.

This semester, four student teams were tasked with designing, building, and racing their own boats using nothing more than cardboard, duct tape, and plenty of ingenuity. The challenge? To create a vessel sturdy enough to carry two passengers across the pool without sinking—a true test of their understanding of buoyancy and hydrodynamics.

In addition to their full-sized creations, students also presented 1:8 scale models to demonstrate the planning and precision behind their designs. Whether their boats sailed smoothly or took an unexpected dive, each team showcased impressive engineering skill, problem-solving, and collaboration.

The event drew cheers from classmates and faculty gathered on the spectator deck. A big thank you to the NDP community for supporting our young engineers and to our STEAM faculty for making this unforgettable learning experience possible!