MELBOURNE, FLA. - On Saturday March 7
th, as part of Florida Tech's 37 Hours Of Giving, the second annual Panther Paddle was held at the Panther Aquatic Center.
11 teams comprised of Florida Tech students and staff, including two from area high schools, were given the challenge of constructing human-sized cardboard boats. Engineering skills and creativity were needed as duct tape, plastics, wood and Styrofoam could not be used for the boats. In addition, the person in the boat could not use any body part to get their boat from one end of the pool to the other.
The contestants were judged on construction, theme, name and creativity.
The fastest boat on the day belonged to the Petty Bettys, made up of Chief Data Officer Amanda Moske and General Council Grace Gamage, who reached the wall in 19.82 seconds. They will be invited back to defend their title in 2027. The Petty Bettys were also awarded Best Design.
