WUT students built a concrete canoe
One of the students and Professor Andrzej Garbacz, Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, rowed together in the WILBołtka
A self-designed and hand-built concrete canoe, dozens of hours of testing, engineering challenges, and sporting excitement – a team of students from the Warsaw University of Technology took part in the international Kraków Concrete Canoe Challenge, placing 6th in every competition category.
On 13–14 June 2025, Kraków became the hub of water-based engineering innovation. The first-ever international concrete canoe regatta in Poland – the Kraków Concrete Canoe Challenge – was held at the “Kolna” canoeing track, organized to mark the 80th anniversary of the Cracow University of Technology. Among 14 teams from 11 universities in Poland and abroad, the Warsaw University of Technology was represented by students from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, who presented their concrete canoe named WILBołtka.
Designing a canoe made of concrete required numerous tests and experiments with mix compositions and hull geometry. The team worked under the supervision of Maciej Kalinowski, PhD, and Jakub Zabawski, MSc, with additional support from the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Andrzej Garbacz.
The regatta assessed both the quality of construction and racing performance. The WUT team placed 6th in all categories – women’s, men’s, and mixed. Although it was their first time competing in such an event, they are already planning further participation and improvements to their design.
– It was a great opportunity to put our skills into practice and see how our ideas perform in real-life conditions – said members of the team. – And we discovered that concrete really can float.