Skaters are stoked about totally sick boards made from corn stover that are lighter and faster.
Sick is a good thing in skater lingo, by the way.
Last fall, Corn Board Manufacturing Inc. (CBMI) signed an agreement with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to develop and market CornBoard™ from a corn-based structural composite technology invented by the university’s Dr. Nancy Sottos, Dr. Scott White and Dr. Thomas Mackin. CornBoard™ is a version of wood composite board that uses corn husks and stalks, prepared by mixing the fibrous corn component with a polymer matrix, laminating the mixture, and applying heat and pressure.
Just a few months later, CBMI president Lane Segerstrom set a new world record for skateboard speed, averaging more than 78 mph on a towed Stalk It™ longboard, made from corn stover. Watch the video here:
The skateboards are just the first of the CornBoard products. The company is working on other applications in furniture, flooring, and building materials.
Totally gnarly, dude. (That’s a good thing too!)