Scholarship, Book, and Problem-solving Lab Activities

Prototype Stealth Kayak

• Project Objective - Use stealth bomber and corvette sub hunter ship weapons technology for civilian application demonstration.
• Fabrication Method - Stressed frameless sandwich construction, hand lay up.
• Composite Materials - Kevlar, graphite, fiberglass, pvc foam, epoxy.
• Manufacturing Site - Engineering Technology Department, WCU.
• Designer/Builder - Professor Robert Dalley, CIT; Students, E. Adams, M. Clare, J. Handcock, B. Hotze, D. Jones, J. Lee, L. McFetters, C. Mills, T. Mingin, J. Nelson, P. Stevens, E. Voots, and J. Walker.
  

Kayak Manufacturing & Stealth Technology

The military uses stealth technology to build bomber/fighter aircraft and corvette class submarine hunter naval ships. This technology, which includes composite materials to achieve strong lightweight construction is migrating into the commercial civilian sector. The term for this is dual-use technology.

Engineering Technology Department students enrolled in Professor Bumgarner’s Manufacturing Processes and Materials class (MET 141) are shown here working with Professor Robert Dalley, building a prototype kayak. They are using a stressed frameless construction system that uses a pvc foam core laminated in a Kevlar, graphite, epoxy, and fiberglass shell.

Kayak specifications: length-eleven feet, beam-three foot/ two inches, rocker-four inches, flair-four inches, weight-thirty four pounds, application-fishing kayak.