Two years ago, the world changed forever for a group of drafters. These drafters defeated a group of engineers during an engineering competition to build a Human Powered Paper Vehicle (HPPV). Four months prior to the competition, the small group of determined drafters from Green River Community College pooled their talents in the project to win the race.

Yet again, on Saturday, April 12, 2008, the Human Powered Paper Vehicle competition took place. A new drafting team from Green River Community College traveled to Eastern Washington to race against time and the many groups of engineers. The team of five consisted of William Gamm; Barry Uhde; Ryan Pham; Tim Wiech; and Pedro Anton II. In an exciting relay race, the drafting team took first place once again.

Early on, when planning the vehicle, the team settled on a bicycle design that, according to William Gamm, "appeared to be sturdy enough and maneuverable enough to win the race."

Barry Uhde explained, "The extra weight of the vehicle besides paper was kept to a minimum with a bicycle design." As part of contest rules, only 10 percent of the overall weight of the vehicle could be from non paper material. "The total weight of our bicycle was 74.10 pounds, well under the maximum weight of 75 pounds", joked Ryan. The non-metal weight came out to 7.38 pounds.

Anton related that "the construction of the bicycle took four months, which was just enough time to complete and test the vehicle." Amazingly, the team paid only $250.00 for materials. All of the paper material was donated by a local company (Sonoco). The pedal assembly, chain, and the front hub came from Bike Tech.

Barry Uhde described the race course. "One by one, the paper vehicles race around a half mile track. There are four cones set at 15 feet apart and a 10 foot ramp with 10 percent grade. The vehicle that has the fastest time to finish the course wins," he said.

"We started out great," Anton relayed excitedly. "Because we planned ahead, and had excellent team work and commitment, we took first place." Three members traded off and each contributed to the win: Tim Wiech, Ryan Pham, and William Gamm.

William Gamm, who led the effort, thanked everyone by saying, "I would like to commend all of the people who made our HPPV possible."

The American Design Drafting Association (ADDA) club helped represent Green River Community College at the Human Powered Paper Vehicle (HPPV) contest. The HPPV contest – held Saturday, April, 12 – was sponsored by Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington. The Green River Chapter of American Design Drafting Association club was one of many teams from around the state to compete in the contest.

Learn more about Green River's Design Drafting Technology Program.