Mississippi State's Challenge X team to nationally compete

Contact: Robbie Ward

Mississippi State's Challenge X team gathered before the vehicle was loaded onto a truck to ship to Michigan. MSU students have designed the vehicle to be more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. The team will begin on May 30 a nine-day competition with 16 other university teams with similar vehicles. In 2006, MSU won third place overall, winning first in many subcategories.
Mississippi State's Challenge X team gathered before the vehicle was loaded onto a truck to ship to Michigan. MSU students have designed the vehicle to be more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly. The team will begin on May 30 a nine-day competition with 16 other university teams with similar vehicles. In 2006, MSU won third place overall, winning first in many subcategories.

STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State's Challenge X team will begin Wednesday [May 30] competing with 16 other universities from throughout the country to redesign the most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly SUV in a nine-day event in Michigan.

Challenge X is an engineering program that tasks students to re-engineer a Chevrolet Equinox crossover SUV using advanced propulsion technologies, creating vehicles that appeal to consumers while reducing fuel costs and lowering the impact on the environment. MSU's entry into the competition is a hybrid vehicle running on an electric motor and a diesel engine that uses biodiesel fuel.

Mechanical engineering graduate student David Oglesby of Columbus has worked on the university's team since it began in 2004 and serves as team leader. He said exposure to advanced technologies and more fuel-efficient concepts to improve the hybrid SUV has provided invaluable experience.

Competing in Challenge X has introduced Mississippi State to more leaders in the automotive industry. MSU's team is based out of the university's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, which provides research and other assistance to automotive companies, including Nissan in Canton.

"It's an opportunity that has been beneficial for the whole university and for the state as well," said Oglesby, who also works as a research associate at CAVS.

Mississippi State's team has spent the past academic year integrating and refining advanced vehicle technologies, preparing for competition in Milford, Mich., organized by General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. Each team will compete in more than a dozen evaluations, such as acceleration, off-road performance, greenhouse gas impact, fuel economy, emissions, and consumer acceptability. Teams also will give technical oral presentations and present a technical paper.

The competition will end with an awards ceremony at GM's Renaissance Center at the automaker's world headquarters in Detroit.

Mississippi State's student team has participated in each Challenge X competition since it started in 2005. MSU placed third overall in 2006, winning first place honors in many of the subcategories including speed tests, emissions testing and drive quality.

Other universities competing in Challenge X include: universities of California at Davis, Michigan; Tennessee, Texas at Austin, Tulsa, Waterloo, and Wisconsin-Madison; and Michigan Technological, Ohio State, Pennsylvania State, San Diego State, Texas Tech, Akron, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia universities; and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

For more information, contact Amanda McAlphin at 662-312-8672 or go to www.msuchallengex.org.