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Engineering Students Gear Up for National Vehicle Competition

23 March 1999

Engineering Students Gear Up for National Vehicle Competition ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORIES We don't brake for Spring Break. Students from 14 top U.S. and Canadian colleges will skip Ft. Lauderdale and other popular Spring Break destinations this year to work on trucks of the future. Time is running out for 200 students whose teams will compete May 19-26 in the 1999 Ethanol Vehicle Challenge national engineering program that tests trucks that have been converted from gasoline-powered engines to vehicles that run on ethanol. The week-long competition will be at the GM Proving Ground in Milford, Mich. (PR NewsFoto) [PH] CHICAGO, IL USA 03/22/1999    

             Spring Break Spent Under the Hood, Not the Boardwalk

    CHICAGO, March 22 -- For most college kids, spring break
means packing bags, piling into cars and hitting the roads for popular party
destinations like Ft. Lauderdale and the Colorado Rockies.  For students at 14
top U.S. and Canadian engineering schools, however, spring break takes on a
whole new meaning: designing and developing vehicles of the future -- trucks
that operate on ethanol.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990322/CGM038 )
    Time is quickly running out for more than 200 students whose teams will
compete May 19-26 in the 1999 Ethanol Vehicle Challenge, a seven-day event
that tests pickup trucks that have been converted from gasoline-powered
engines to vehicles that run on E85 (a blend of 85 percent denatured ethanol
and 15 percent gasoline primer).  The competition began in November when
student teams took possession of fourteen 1999 four-wheel drive Chevrolet
Silverado pickups donated by the GM Truck Group.  The U.S. Department of
Energy, General Motors Corporation and Natural Resources Canada are the major
sponsors of the competition.
    "For the students, this challenge offers a valuable learning experience
which complements their formal education," said Tom Stephens, GM vice
president and group director of engineering for the GM Truck Group.
"Converting Silverados from gasoline power to ethanol power will offer
challenges to the student teams and is an exciting platform to highlight their
technological skills."
    The teams will compete at the GM Proving Ground in Milford, Mich.  The
week-long Ethanol Challenge will test exhaust emissions, fuel economy,
acceleration, driveability, handling, range, and cold- and hot-start
performance. Off-road and trailer towing events will focus students on design
challenges unique to trucks.  Teams also will be judged for a written design
report and an oral technical design presentation.
    After five days of competition, the teams will embark on a two-day trip
from the GM Milford Proving Ground to Springfield, Ill.  The motorcade will
make stops along the route at the state capitol building in Lansing, Mich.,
the GM assembly plant in Ft. Wayne, Ind., and Williams Energy Corp. in Peoria,
Ill.  The over-the-road event will conclude at the Illinois State Fairgrounds
in Springfield, here the winners will be announced.
    Schools competing in the 1999 Ethanol Vehicle Challenge include: Minnesota
State University (Mankato, Minn.), University of Texas at El Paso, Wayne State
University (Detroit, Mich.), Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago, Ill.),
Idaho State University (Pocatello, Idaho), Cedarville College (Cedarville,
Ohio), University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), University of
Illinois at Chicago, University of Kansas at Lawrence, University of
California at Riverside, Kettering University (Flint, Mich.), University of
Texas at Austin, Crowder College (Neosho, Mo.) and University of Nebraska at
Lincoln.