From Paper Boat (a competition of boats made exclusively from paper, which had to stay afloat, with small steel weights on board), they went to build the first life-size boat, made of plastic cans, to float on Lake Brates, full of passengers. These are the first-year students from the Faculty of Naval Architecture of "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galați, who built, in five weeks, a plastic can boat 2.5 meters long, 1.7 meters wide, 0.7 meters high, weighs 36 kilograms, which allows two people to board.

The team that carried out the design, calculation, and actual construction of the boat consisted of: Adelin Tănase, Ștefan-Iulian Rață (first and second place winners at Paper Boat), who were joined by Robert Lupu, Aurelian Agache and Daniel Grigori, all freshmen of the faculty. The boat was assembled in a room in the building of the Hull Pool on the Science Campus. All the first-year students contributed to the collection of recyclable materials, which collected no more and no less than 1500 plastic cans, half of which were used to make the boat. The launch was made on Lake Brateș, in the presence of all the freshmen, the most daring personally proving the qualities of floating.

"In addition to the greening part, the action allowed the students to learn to plan their activities thoroughly, to solve the problems encountered along the way, take decisions, and work until the final product. Being only in the first year, not having knowledge about the design of the ship's shapes, hull and stability calculations, assembly and execution technologies, the young people had to document themselves at every step. During the five weeks, they experimented with the design of the hull shapes, understood the importance of the hull shape plan and diagrams, and performed calculations on buoyancy, freeboard, and draft at full load. Basically, they showed curiosity, perseverance, and courage, so we are proud of them and congratulate them", said lecturer Alina Modiga, the tutor of the first-year students from the Faculty of Naval Architecture and the initiator of the project.

"The competition could become a tradition at our faculty, training in the future also high school students passionate about naval architecture. We are at the first edition of this competition, and we will keep the boat in the yard of the pool. We even think of a propulsion system with frames or sails. We will try from one generation to the next to raise the bar and increase the requirements of the contest. The construction of a boat is a good opportunity to learn new things, to try and consolidate theoretical notions, and work in teams", explained Associate Professor Gabriel Popescu, Ph.D. Dean of the Faculty of Naval Architecture.

After the launch, the first-year students attended a small, much-desired party after the pandemic.