The Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race (GNCTR) is one of the most renowned engineering
events of its kind in Canada. It is a competition where students meet to display their engineering
creativity and innovation. Each team consists of a minimum of six students who are required to
design, construct, and race a toboggan with a running surface made completely out of Portland based concrete. Teams
are also responsible for implementing a braking system, of their own design, to bring their speeding sleds to a stop
after the race.
The idea itself presents a challenge. To generate a sliding surface out of a completely innappropriate material, concrete. It is
creative solutions to problems like this that we like to encourage and expect from each team.
The increase the challenge of the event, each team must follow predetermined constraints. These
rules and regulations are under revisement from year to year and are passed down from each hosting committee to the next. Throughout
the event, teams are judged on design and presentation creativity, technical reports, and race performance.
Since it's conception in 1974, the GNCTR has grown to include universities and technical institutes from across Canada, the United States and Europe. At present, approximately 500
students present themselves each year to compete for the best Concrete Toboggan. Read up on the origin of the GNCTR.
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