http://www.bagley.msstate.edu/media/news/index.php?newsID=493
<div id="secondaryHeader"> Students take challenge on the road </div> <table style="FLOAT: left" class="image"> <tbody> <tr> <td>
</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="caption"> <div style="FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold"></div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div style="FONT-SIZE: 13px" id="textBlock"> STARKVILLE, Miss. - Members of Mississippi State's hybrid vehicle team will travel to Canada next week for the first phase of EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge competition.
It is the newest installment of the Department of Energy and General Motor's advanced vehicle technology competitions. The program challenges 17-competitively selected university teams to re-engineer a Saturn VUE to optimize fuel efficiency while preserving performance and consumer appeal.
"The EcoCAR program is an integral part of what we do at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems," Dr. Roger King, center director, said. "It brings together the many engineering aspects of vehicles and puts it into practice for students while giving them the opportunity to learn real world engineering."
In February, the team announced its plans to employ an extended range, plug-in hybrid vehicle architecture. Without ever touching a car, the team members have utilized advanced computer modeling programs to design and simulate their vehicle's operation.
Early tests indicate that the team's vehicle will be capable of achieving an all-electric range of 40 miles. That would offset all of the petroleum use for the 78 percent of Americans who drive 40 miles or less each day. Once the electric charge is depleted, range-extending technology included in the design will allow the vehicle to run on fuel so as to not limit motorists' driving range. The battery can be recharged using a standard electrical outlet.
In next week's round of competition, the team will be judged on its use of a hardware-in-the-loop set-up, which essentially replicates the functions of the car's engine without the car. The team must showcase its simulations and give presentations to the judges about their design, research, implementation, and outreach activities.
"I expect the competition to be tough," explained team member Susan Salkeld. "I know we will be busy, but we are ready. This competition is a great thing for the whole university community. Everyone, from a lot of different majors, works together as a team and I really like that."
Salkeld, a graduate student in software engineering, is one of the 13-team members who will travel to Canada for the competition. The team consists of more than 50 student members, of which several are returning members from the two time national champion ChallengeX team. Dr. Marshall Molen, the teams' faculty adviser, will accompany the students to the competition.
More information about MSU's EcoCAR team can be found on its Web site, <font color="#660000">www.ecocar.msstate.edu.</font> The program's official Web site is <font color="#660000">www.ecocarchallenge.org.</font> For additional information about MSU's team, contact Molen at [email protected] or 662.325.5577.
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<div id="secondaryHeader"> Students take challenge on the road </div> <table style="FLOAT: left" class="image"> <tbody> <tr> <td>
It is the newest installment of the Department of Energy and General Motor's advanced vehicle technology competitions. The program challenges 17-competitively selected university teams to re-engineer a Saturn VUE to optimize fuel efficiency while preserving performance and consumer appeal.
"The EcoCAR program is an integral part of what we do at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems," Dr. Roger King, center director, said. "It brings together the many engineering aspects of vehicles and puts it into practice for students while giving them the opportunity to learn real world engineering."
In February, the team announced its plans to employ an extended range, plug-in hybrid vehicle architecture. Without ever touching a car, the team members have utilized advanced computer modeling programs to design and simulate their vehicle's operation.
Early tests indicate that the team's vehicle will be capable of achieving an all-electric range of 40 miles. That would offset all of the petroleum use for the 78 percent of Americans who drive 40 miles or less each day. Once the electric charge is depleted, range-extending technology included in the design will allow the vehicle to run on fuel so as to not limit motorists' driving range. The battery can be recharged using a standard electrical outlet.
In next week's round of competition, the team will be judged on its use of a hardware-in-the-loop set-up, which essentially replicates the functions of the car's engine without the car. The team must showcase its simulations and give presentations to the judges about their design, research, implementation, and outreach activities.
"I expect the competition to be tough," explained team member Susan Salkeld. "I know we will be busy, but we are ready. This competition is a great thing for the whole university community. Everyone, from a lot of different majors, works together as a team and I really like that."
Salkeld, a graduate student in software engineering, is one of the 13-team members who will travel to Canada for the competition. The team consists of more than 50 student members, of which several are returning members from the two time national champion ChallengeX team. Dr. Marshall Molen, the teams' faculty adviser, will accompany the students to the competition.
More information about MSU's EcoCAR team can be found on its Web site, <font color="#660000">www.ecocar.msstate.edu.</font> The program's official Web site is <font color="#660000">www.ecocarchallenge.org.</font> For additional information about MSU's team, contact Molen at [email protected] or 662.325.5577.
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