Sweeping Away the Competition

Engineering is solving a problem by creating new technology or using old technology in a new way. Without engineers, humans would be lacking certain foods, clothes, objects, and even services that are essential today. For centuries, engineers have worked to make lives not only easier but also more enjoyable, even creating new technologies to help in sports as old as curling. In recent years, engineers have worked to improve curling by developing new brooms and even modifying the ice the game is played on.

Curling is not a well-known sport, but the rules are simple. There are four players on each team, and two teams play in each game. One team throws a large rock, called a stone, down a sheet of ice. Then, two other players from that team sweep the ice in front of the stone with a broom to guide it toward the house, where points are scored. The teams alternate turns for seven rounds, after which the team with the most stones closest to the center of the house wins.

Many types of engineers work to improve curling in various ways. Materials engineers must research the material of the broom and how it interacts with the surface of the ice so they can make the broom as strong, light, and effective as possible. Someone must also study the way the human body moves across the ice and the way it pushes and pulls the broom. This job is done by biomedical engineers. Last, mechanical engineers fit all the research of materials and biomedical engineers together into one vastly improved and hopefully extremely effective device ("EGFI – Dream Up the Future"). That device is the broom, which has been greatly remodeled and upgraded, bettering the performance of athletes in curling (Press).

Players have always used brooms to sweep the ice in front of the stone, but the design of the broom itself has changed greatly. Originally, real brooms, the kind used to sweep floors, were used (Press). However, now the curling brooms’ handles are made of various combinations of three materials: wood, fiberglass, and carbon fiber. The head of the broom nowadays is made of either a synthetic material or hair, usually horsehair ("Understand the Difference between Types of Curling Brushes and Replacement Brush Heads"). These more modern brooms, also called brushes, were developed by engineers simply because they are more durable and therefore more practical.

More surprisingly, engineers have also improved curling by adjusting the ice the game is played on. With the exception of curling, all sports that are played ice use smooth ice, rather than the pebbled ice used for curling (Spector). The reason why most sports use smooth ice is because it creates less friction, allowing players and their equipment to move faster and go farther, therefore giving the game a higher level of intensity. In curling, however, smooth ice has the opposite effect. Because the stone is heavy, about forty pounds, rushing along smooth ice would form a vacuum and slow the stone down. However, ice with small bumps will prevent a vacuum from being created between the stone and the ice. ("Science Friction: Curling."). Pebbled ice is created easily by spraying small water droplets on the ice as it freezes, but the effect it has on curling is impressive (Spector).

With all of the scientific research around curling, it would not be startling to see new, more modern versions of the broom emerge. One of the most advanced brooms today, the Equalizer, seems to have as much technology packed into such a small and necessarily light item as is possible. However, with the ever-advancing field of materials engineering and the devoted materials engineers, no one can be sure. The most advanced brooms have a coarse head, as a rougher head on the broom will create more friction and is therefore more effective. However, too rough a head will strip the pebbles from the ice and make it less helpful (Press). One thing that could be done to improve upon this problem is finding a material abrasive enough to create friction and allow the stone to go farther, but not so abrasive as to strip the pebbles from the ice and create a vacuum.

Creating a new technology is not an easy task. There is much research that has to be done, and there are many problems that act as restraints, such as that some technologies are too expensive and that some materials are too fragile. In curling, one difficult problem to avoid is weight. A broom that is too heavy will cause a player to tire more quickly, therefore making it less effective even if it seems more useful ("Science Friction: Curling."). Another problem relating to weight arises from trying to make the handle lighter. By making a lighter handle, engineers might also make a more fragile handle ("Understand the Difference between Types of Curling Brushes and Replacement Brush Heads"). A more fragile handle could result in the broom breaking, as athletes in curling exert a large amount of force through the broom to the ice ("Science Friction: Curling."). Materials engineers of the future will have to research and experiment extensively before they can make an improved broom. So, while new brooms and improvements upon the ice would be welcome in curling, a large amount of time, money, and research would have to go into the new technologies. Even though it is difficult, it is amazing that today’s engineers can make such advanced improvements on a sport as old as curling.?

Works Cited

"Curling at the Olympic Games." World Curling Federation -. World Curling Federation, 1998-2015. Web. 09 Jan. 2015.

"EGFI – Dream Up the Future." EGFI – Dream Up the Future. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2015.

Press, The Canadian. "The Great Equalizer: New Curling Broom a Hit - CBC Sports - Curling." CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 01 Feb 2011. Web. 14 Jan 2015. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/curling/the-great-equalizer-new-curling-broom-a-hit-1.1032935

"Science Friction: Curling." Science Friction: Curling. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Jan. 2015.

Spector, Dina. "Why Curlers Sweep The Ice." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 08 Jan. 2015.

"Understand the Difference between Types of Curling Brushes and Replacement Brush Heads." Goldline Curling Blog RSS. N.p., 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.