Jessica MacNeil

EcoCAR uses student innovation to design more efficient cars

The idea behind science fairs is for students to learn, but there’s always the possibility of finding technological breakthroughs that could be used in the real world.

That same idea has been expanded upon by the Department of Energy, General Motors, the Mathworks, and other sponsors of the university-level competition EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge.

EcoCAR aims to “advance the level of vehicle technology capable of reducing petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions” while training the next generation of engineers to address sustainability and transportation issues.

To do this, students from 17 universities in the US and Canada will spend three years designing and re-engineering a Saturn Vue to be more efficient and reduce emissions.

Many of the universities bring experience to EcoCAR after participating in similar advanced vehicle technology competitions (AVTC), including Challenge X and Future Truck.
 
For some students, the competition is their main academic focus. Beth Bezaire is a master's student at Ohio State University dedicating research hours to the project with plans to do her thesis on some component of the EcoCAR.

For others, there is more of a sacrifice because they receive less class credit for the time they dedicate to the project.
“It is done at our school as a two-credit hour course, which is not equal to the amount of time that you put into it, but it does help a little bit with getting some credit for it,” said Bob Warden, a senior mechanical engineering major at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology.

Through its experience with Challenge X, Rose Hulman has created a model-based design curriculum that will be useful to prepare younger students for this competition by giving them experience in the concepts and with relevant programs like Matlab and Simulink.
 
The competition involves more than just engineering, however, as teams are awarded points for other factors, such as community outreach.  
“Part of the competition is scored on how you outreach; how you tell people about what you’re doing,” said Matthew Doude, a graduate mechanical engineering student whose Mississippi State University team comes in as the defending champions of Challenge X. “During Challenge X we reached, I think, over 250,000 people one-on-one, actually showing people the vehicle on a one-on-one basis throughout the 4 years of the competition.”

Because it’s more than just building a car, the students will have more to gain from the competition. Working with a team, dealing with suppliers and being in touch with the media and community are real-life engineering experiences that go beyond the technology.
“I’m really looking forward to the interpersonal skills: working with a team, figuring out how to make a team function well and get all we need to get done, and to be able to learn those types of skills that you learn from being on a project team, not just from taking classes,” said Bezaire.

Learning these skills in a real industry environment is also beneficial because of  the people the students have the opportunity to meet.  Professionals involved in the program serve as examples to follow, potential references down the road, and career mentors for the students.
 “I think the contacts that you meet through something like this is invaluable,” said Doude. “I don’t know a single program where you meet the people we got to meet.”

The environment also adds to the experience because the competitors learn to act in a more professional manner than is required on campus.
 “It makes them realize how you have to act in a professional manner rather than what they’re used to just hanging out in their dorm room,” said Warden. “It really helps make some of the younger guys grow up, which is something that is hard to teach unless they realize it themselves.”

On a larger scale, the competition could benefit everyone as the teams work to develop a more efficient and eco-friendly car for the future.
 “To me this is an exciting program because right now we’re transitioning to different types of energy, getting away from oil, and I think that’s extremely important,” said Doude. “I think in the next 10 years the auto industry will start looking at all these different kinds of energy and that’s definitely a reason I got involved in this competition because now is really a critical time for the industry.”

While the other team leaders outlined plans to use electricity to fuel their redesigned Saturn Vues, Howard Mearns, a graduate student on the West Virginia University team, predicted they would focus on a solution that could be more readily available.
 “I think we would like to take an approach closer to the technology that’s here,” said Mearns. “The infrastructure isn’t around yet. If everybody plugged their car in tonight the grid would crash. There isn’t the capacity for that kind of thing, so we’ll probably be looking at a hybrid, but a full hybrid that you don’t see in this particular market class.”

Although the students are interested in winning the competition, they see the value participating will have for them, their schools and potentially the planet. But in the end, learning is everyone’s focus.
“This is about being a cohesive team,” said Bezaire. “This is not a cut-throat competition. We want everyone to learn and to gain a lot out of it.”

The challenge kicked off with a training workshop at The Mathworks in Natick, MA, where the teams gathered in August. The other universities involved are Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Georgia Tech, Howard University, Michigan Technological University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, North Carolina State University, Pennsylvania State University, Texas Tech University, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, University of Victoria, University of Waterloo, University of Wisconsin, and Virginia Tech.

Posted by Jessica MacNeil on September 11, 2008 | Comments (0)