Western hosts Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race

Western University will welcome approximately 450 students from more than 20 universities and colleges across Canada and one from the United States as it hosts the 40th Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race from January 29 to February 1.

The annual event is the largest student engineering competition in Canada and challenges teams to apply knowledge learned in the engineering classroom to create a toboggan with a running surface made entirely of concrete, capable of supporting five riders and weighing less than 300lbs.

A panel of judges composed of engineering professors and industry professionals will evaluate each team’s design and construction during a technical exhibition. On the final day of the competition, teams will race the toboggans down London’s Boler Mountain to determine the winner of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering Cup.

Western Engineering’s team will be defending three titles after winning the overall competition in 2013, as well as the prize for building the most sustainable concrete toboggan and the Giant Slalom Champion award.

Events Open to the Public:

Technical Exhibition:
January 31 at 12-4pm, Hilton Grand Ballroom, 300 King St, London

Race Day:
February 1 at 8:30am-4pm, Boler Mountain, 689 Griffith St., London

More information is available at www.gnctr2014.com

MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Johnson, GNCTR Organizing Committee, 403.470.8025, communication@gnctr2014.com, or Stephen Ledgley, Senior Media Relations Officer, Western University, 519.661.2111 x85283 sledgley@uwo.ca

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