ODU Engineering Faculty Does College Proud -- With Duct Tape

A group of senior faculty members from Old Dominion University's Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology (BCET) proudly waved the ODU banner while they participated in the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters "Duct Tape Regatta" this past weekend at Willoughby Harbor in Norfolk.

The BCET team included Bernie Bohm, assistant dean; Gary Schafran, chair of the civil and environmental engineering department; Kevin Colvin, machine shop manager; and development officers Keith Dixon and J.C. Brinker.

Although the team didn't win the 46-boat regatta, a fundraiser for the hospital's charitable foundation, its boat - fashioned, per contest rules, from a sheet of plywood, two two-by-fours, a pound of screws and a roll of duct tape - won the "best built" trophy among the competing teams, which included participants from Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News, Norfolk Southern Corp. and Lockheed Martin.

The competition ended up being called before the races were finished, because of cloudy skies and lightning in the forecast. The ODU team's trophy was one of only two that were awarded during the popular event.

"The BCET team, in its first showing at this important event, made an excellent showing," Bohm said. "We are particularly proud of having won the 'best built' category, against teams from large local companies."

In six years, the regatta has raised more than $100,000.