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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's human powered vehicle team completed a clean sweep of this year's American Society of Mechanical Engineers' eastern and western competitions, capturing
top honors at the West Coast Challenge on May 1-3 in Portland, Ore.
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Happy Champions: Rose-Hulman's Human Powered Vehicle Team (in red and black uniforms) stand with competitors from California State-Northridge, California Polytechnic, Oregon State and Missouri
Science & Technology at the ASME West Coast Challenge in Portland, Ore. |
The team took first place in the sprint event. Rider Danny Sing had the
fastest male time, covering the 100 meter distance in 6.06 seconds (only 0.03
seconds faster than the second place team). Rider Rachelle Cobb had the
second fastest female time, completing the distance in
6.61 seconds. The team earned first place honors in the important design report category and fourth place in the endurance race. ASME officials also presented Rose-Hulman the Team Spirit Award
after lending team member Ariel Young to ride for the University of Utah in the utility event.
Rose-Hulman becomes the first college to win both east and west coast events in consecutive years after posting first place finishes last year.
ASME's West Coast Challenge is considered the more competitive of the two regional event, attracting quality teams from Missouri Institute of Science & Technology, California Polytechnic
Institute, University of California-Northridge and Oregon State University. There were 28 teams registered for the competition, with 24 teams competing with Rose-Hulman in the single rider category.
Last month, Rose-Hulman won the ASME East Coast Challenge in Philadelphia.
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Ready To Roll: Team Leader Jeff Van Treuren prepares to launch rider Rachelle Cobb in the sprint racing event of this year's ASME West Coast Challenge. (Photo Provided by Michael Moorhead) |
Members of Rose-Hulman's championship Human Powered Vehicle Team are team leader Jeff Van Treuren; riders Danny Sing, Rachelle Cobb, Ariel Young, Andrew Bomar and Sean Hannon; treasurer Chris
Wlezien; Jeff Dovalovsky, Molly Nelis and Cole Pearson.
"The competition judges continue to be impressed by all aspects of our team," noted faculty advisor Michael Moorhead, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
Collegiate teams design and build aerodynamic, highly-engineered and safe vehicles capable of road use. Though some vehicles have achieved record speeds of over 60 mph, the competition
assigns great value to the elegance and ingenuity of the design, including presentation, practicality, safety and functionality.
More information about the ASME's Human Powered Vehicle competitions can be found at
http://www.asme.org/Events/Contests/HPV/Human_Powered_Vehicle.cfm. Details about Rose-Hulman's team can be found at
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/hpv.
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