MSOE students design high mileage vehicle
| Published: 06/23/2010 |
|
In these tough economic and environmental times, drivers dream about cars that get more than 50 miles per gallon. But a group of students from Milwaukee School of Engineering is building a car that will hopefully get well over 1,000 miles to the gallon. It's not just a vehicle; it's a SuperMileage vehicle, and it will be on display at Discovery World July 8-11 during Supermileage Car Days.
The SuperMileage Vehicle (SMV) competition is sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers, which said it hopes to provide a "challenging design project that involves the development and construction of a single-person, fuel-efficient vehicle." Teams are given basic guidelines and then work to create a vehicle that gets the best miles per gallon while meeting safety requirements. The teams competed against each other in Marshall, Mich. at the Eaton Proving Grounds June 10 and 11.
MSOE took 11th place overall and eighth place in the mileage category, reaching 757 mpg. They scored a perfect 100 on the oral review where they were asked questions about various aspects of the car and its design, and were one of only eight teams to pass inspection on the first day (33 teams registered, 26 showed up to the competition), allowing them to practice on the track earlier than the other teams. They were the only team to complete all eight runs (48 laps total) with no "Do Not Finish" runs.
"As a group, we spend probably 30 hours per week together working on this car," said Sven Krause, team president, "and countless hours beyond that working on our own, trying to make the best vehicle possible."
The team's completed car will be displayed alongside the vehicles that inspired it: microcars, or small, efficient, three-wheeled vehicles produced in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Four different microcars from various countries will be featured, as well as a Ford hybrid vehicle.
The SMV exhibit will include a variety of activities for all ages. Children can look forward to interactive activities such as key chain making, designing their own vehicles, RC car races, and science experiments. Adults will have a chance to listen to keynote speakers, including Crystal Tripp, an electrical engineer from Johnson Controls who will be presenting her company's hybrid car, among others.
"We want everyone experiencing our exhibit to be fully immersed in the high-mileage vehicle scene," said Krause. "Carbon emissions, global warming, the destruction of the environment - these are all huge problems. But we're working hard to come up with solutions and we're very excited to share them." Read more about the team's experiences on their blog, "The Green Mileage."
MSOE is an independent university with 2,600 students. MSOE offers 17 bachelor's degrees and ten master's degrees in the engineering, engineering technology, architectural engineering and building construction, computer, business, nursing and health-related fields. The university has a national academic reputation; longstanding ties to business and industry; dedicated professors with real-world experience; and extremely high placement rates and starting salaries. MSOE graduates are well-rounded, technologically experienced and highly productive professionals and leaders.