SUNY ESF took first place at the national, college-level contest with the highest overall score based on best paper sail performance with a timed race, written reports, gross weight, tear and tensile strength and novelty of design. SUNY ESF led the way with 82.8 total poijnts and placed first in the race competition - which accounted for 20 percent of scoring for the event. The University of Maine captured second place and $10,000 with a total score of 78.1 and Miami University held on for third for $5,000 with 76.2 points despite its sail tearing twice at the event. Miami's paper cloth design impressed the review commitee to notch the final spot.

The ten SUNY ESF students plan to use the money to help fund future equipment and needs for the department.

"This is unbelievable, we had no idea what to expect," said team captain Mark Southwick. "This was our first time having our sail go out on the water. Weather in Syracuse(N.Y.) has been miserable the last few days. For it to work as well as it did, is just a great feeling."

Energy Challenge '01, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Institute of Paper Science and Technology (Atlanta, Ga.), Vanguard Sailboats and Hercules, Inc., allows engineering students to work with energy efficiency and waste minimization concepts that have real applications in the pulp and paper industry. During the past eight months, students of the competing schools built nonwoven composite sails. The sails were to be designed exclusively from paper products, including wood fiber, synthetic polymers and commonly used paper products. Each of the schools received a $2,000 "start up" grant to assist with the funding of their project and 100 pounds of wood chips to convert into a paper fiber to fashion the sail. The purpose of Energy Challenge '01 was to increase interest in science and engineering and promote awareness of energy efficiency, manufacturing design, recycling, waste minimization, package maximizing and pulp and paper industrial processes.

The competition supports DOE's Agenda 2020 - a program to enhance the economic competitiveness of the U.S. forest products industry and to help the pulp and paper industry reach the vision of more energy efficient manufacturing processes in the year 2020.