**Students Start Buildling Paper Sailboards, Hope to Surf Away with
\$15,000 in Energy Challenge**

***Students start building paper sailboards, hope to surf away with
\$15,000***

Ah, the joy of wind surfing over cool, deep blue water from one location
to another. It\'s a great way to take in everything. Nothing can disturb
such a tranquil experience. This is nature at its finest.

Wait a minute. What happens when the sailboard is made of paper and
requires a unique design to keep it afloat?

Engineering students participating in this year\'s Energy Challenge hope
to find out. In this contest, assembly parts are not provided and the
design comes straight from the mind. The goal is to construct a
sailboard made only of paper products and race it on Lake Lanier, in
Gainesville, Ga., April 6.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Institute of Paper Science and
Technology (IPST), Hercules Incorporated and Windsense are sponsoring
the contest.

\"It\'s about thinking differently, to make more with less,\" said Dr.
Jim Ferris, president of IPST. \"Students will test their skills by
building a sailboard from raw materials using energy efficiency and
waste minimization concepts that are important in the pulp and paper
industry.\"

Georgia Institute of Technology, Miami University (Ohio), University of
Central Florida, University of Maine, Mississippi State University and
two teams from North Carolina State University will take part in the
competition.

Each school received a \$2,000 \"start up\" grant to assist with the
funding of their project, which requires the sailboards to be completely
made from paper materials, including corrugated paperboard or
linerboard.

Commonly used paper chemicals may be used in the finishing and bonding
stages. Merit points will be awarded to teams that develop novel
materials from wood fiber and/or develop novel chemicals from wood that
are used in the construction of the sailboard.

The purpose of Energy Challenge is to increase interest in science and
engineering and promote awareness of energy efficiency, manufacturing
design, recycling, waste minimization, package maximizing and pulp and
paper industrial processes.

A review committee will judge the sailboards on the following: gross
weight, material composition, board volume, compressive strength,
tensile energy absorption, stiffness, aesthetics, novelty of design and
sailboard performance.

The first-place school will receive \$15,000; second place, \$10,000;
third place, \$5,000.

The competition correlates with DOE\'s Agenda 2020 \-- a program to
enhance the economic competitiveness of the U.S. forest products
industry and to help the pulp and paper industry reach the vision of
more energy efficient manufacturing processes in the year 2020.

\"This competition is a long-term strategy we\'re hoping will get more
people involved in conservation,\" Ferris said. \"Finding ways to reduce
energy consumption has increasingly become more important as the U.S.
seeks new technologies to help reduce our reliance on foreign oil and
meet our energy needs. Aligning research efforts with national security
efforts just makes sense as this nation strives toward achieving energy
balance.\"

**Editor\'s Note**: Additional information about the contest can be
found on the Energy Challenge Web site at www.ipst.edu/energy_challenge.

For more information contact:

John Horst, 303-275-4709

email: john_horst@nrel.gov

PRESS MAY CONTACT:

DOE: John Horst, 303-275-4709, john_horst@nrel.gov or

IPST: Emmie Cochran, 404-894-8277, Emmie.Cochran@ipst.edu

> Participating teams

-   Georgia Institute of Technology

-   Mississippi State University

-   North Carolina State University \-- School of Engineering; School of
    Paper Science

-   University of Maine

-   University of Central Florida

-   Miami University (Ohio)