The UMinho Aquatic Racing (UMar) student team won the “Rookie of the Year” award in the second edition of the “Portugal Boat Challenge”, an engineering and nautical sustainability competition that took place from 4 to 6 September in Coimbra.

Composed of students from various Engineering courses at UMinho, based in Guimarães and Braga, the project stood out among the participating teams in the theoretical aspect by presenting the concept of the “Conquistador” boat. The distinction of best rookie team was achieved after two and a half months of intensive work in the summer.

UMar participated in the theoretical aspect of the event, through the defense of the project’s electrical and mechanical systems, with the initial purpose of validating the developed model, measuring forces with veteran formations and with prototypes already built, such as the UABoat Team, and others in the theoretical phase, such as NOVA Nautics.

For UMar, the initiative demonstrated that it is possible to develop large-scale and valuable technological projects from Minho, positioning the academic community at the forefront of the energy transition through solutions for 100% sustainable nautical mobility.

The concept vessel was named “Conquistador” in honor of D. Afonso Henriques, linking the lightness and resistance of the carbon fiber structure to the spirit of determination of the first king of Portugal. This name carries the double symbology of representing UMar’s first boat and the ambition to achieve a lot in the coming years in the renewable energy sector.

The biggest obstacle faced by the students was related to the management of schedules and working together in the summer, along with the technical requirement of the concepts involved. To overcome the difficulties, the training was supported by the organization’s technical team, in clarification sessions and software workshops dedicated to the participants.

After the positive evaluation of the judges in engineering matters and technical presentation, UMar prepares the transition from the theoretical plan to the practical phase. The goal this academic year is to build the first physical boat, which requires attracting partners and sponsors willing to support the development of the prototype in the region, explained team leader & chief engineer Diogo Ribeiro, who has a degree and a master’s degree in Physics Engineering from UMinho.

Get to know this project and the team better in the Interview made by RUM.

– News: Diário do Minho

– About the vessel: Instagram

+Info: Portugal Boat Challenge, umar-team.github.io, Instagram, LinkedIn