Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State student team holds third-place honors among 17 North America institutions in the 2009 finals of "EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge."
During competition in Canada this week, the university's vehicle design again was among the top finishers to redesign conventional vehicle engines and make them "greener" and more energy efficient. MSU teams were overall first-place winners in 2007 and 2008 during a similar but separate competition.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, the Canadian government, and numerous other organizations, the student challenge involves a 2009 Saturn VUE. While improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions, the collegiate teams also must retain the vehicle's performance and consumer appeal.
Teams from Ohio State University and the University of Victoria (Canada) placed first and second, respectively, in this year's event, the first of a new three-year cycle.
MSU's faculty adviser for the team, Marshall Molen, a distinguished professor in electrical and computer engineering, said he's proud of team's efforts and accomplishments in the competition. "Our team did extremely well," he said. "The competition was very, very fierce."
During the past year, MSU team members spent long hours testing and installing advanced software and computer modeling tools. This first part of the new three-year competition focused on vehicle design.
The second year will have teams incorporate their individually developed power trains into the Saturn. In the final year, participants will refine their entries to near-showroom quality.
While the MSU team was third overall, it won first place in the mechanical systems presentation subcategory and second in outstanding outreach (i.e., promotion of its work). It also received a separate award for "creative promotion" of the MSU EcoCAR entry.
Mechanical engineering graduate student Michael Barr of Picayune, leader of the mechanical group, said the team's design presentation impressed judges and organizers with how much he and others have learned about Saturn redesign techniques.
Barr said teams were encouraged to explore a variety of redesign methods, including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, electric, and extended range electric vehicle. MSU's concept uses an extended range electric volt engine that runs on B20 biodiesel fuel, he explained.
Speaking by cell phone Friday [June 12] from the Toronto airport, Barr said the MSU team will begin work in August on the 2010 phase of the competition.
"They gave us the keys to our car today," he said.
Whatever the redesign, all vehicle designs must include lithium ion battery technology, electric plug-in capability and renewable fuels capabilities, and power train diversity.
Barr said the countless experiences all participating students are having "will increase our chances of landing a job with employers in the energy sector, as well as with automotive and other high-tech companies."
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact MSU EcoCAR team faculty adviser Marshal Molen at 662-325-2046 or molen@ece.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.