A few members of David R. Cotner's afternoon WEL116 Shielded Metal Arc Welding II class had an opportunity recently to design and develop a "Dutch Oven Table" to be used for cookouts during camping trips for a local Boy Scout troop, with the primary focus of the table directed toward the Scouts' "Leave No Trace" principle.
Simply put, the Scout philosophy of "Leave No Trace" is that the environment you enter should be left the way you found it. This table will allow for cooking without digging a fire pit or ring and burning the ground.
Members of this team included an Eagle Scout, Kade E. Poorman, of State College; Michael A. St. George, an American Welding Society Student Chapter member, of Erie; and Michael T. Olewnik, another former Scout of Wysox.
The concept of the table is not new, but the design was entirely original, allowing the members to build and "tweak" their design until no tools were required to assemble, and all pieces are completely contained within the unit when broken down, Cotner said.
