The 13th International Human-Powered Submarine Races (ISR) at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) in West Bethesda, Maryland, and hosted by the Foundation for Underwater Research and Education (FURE) is scheduled to take place June 22-26. ISR is a unique international engineering design competition that inspires high school and college-age students of the various engineering disciplines to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“Carderock Division is proud to host the ISR at our David Taylor Model Basin facility,” said Commanding Officer Capt. Rich Blank. “We are honored to be a part of such an inspiring event that brings naval architecture skills learned in the classroom and lab to real-life application. Participants from around the globe have been hard at work on their new designs, and we look forward to seeing the creative and innovative approaches they will bring to this year’s races.”
Human power has been the chosen propulsion plant because of its safety, fairness and the unique engineering challenges it provides, ever since the first ISR was held in Florida in 1989. The ISR has been hosted at NSWC Carderock since 1995.
Since 1989, the ISR competition has grown to include participation from universities, colleges, corporations, research centers, high schools and privately sponsored teams from all over the world. Each team designs and builds a one- or two-person "wet" submarine, relying upon the principles of hydrodynamic design, buoyancy, propulsion, guidance systems, underwater life support and systems engineering. The teams race the submarines using SCUBA equipment for a 100 meter stretch in NSWCCD’s 3,200 foot-long model basin.
At the end of the week-long competition, the winning teams are recognized for best overall performance, innovation, speed, best design outline and spirit of the race.
This year, teams from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman and United Arab Emirates will be competing in the races.
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