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 Achieving a personal best 1,972.9 mpg, Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology's Efficient Vehicles team finished among the top third of 60 competitors in the Shell Eco-Marathon's United
Kingdom competition -- an event where engineers and scientists of the future have gathered for over 30 years in search of automotive
fuel economy.
Rose-Hulman was the only entry from the United States at the Rockingham Motor Speedway near Corby, England. Overall, the team placed
10th in the gasoline fuel division and 15th among all competitors. There were also categories for vehicles operating on diesel, alternative
fuels, gas to liquids and liquid petroleum gas (LPG).
The best mileage performance was achieved by team Microjoule, from France, with a mileage of 10,516.9 mpg, short of the team's world
record of 10,705 mpg set in 2004. The best collegiate entry came from Britain's Bath University, a perennial top contender, at 5,958.8
mpg.
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Beating The Competition: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's efficient vehicle hugs the bottom of the Rockingham Motor Speedway
track while competing in the Shell Eco-Marathon UK Challenge. Danielle Steinke was behind the wheel for this attempt to get the
most mileage from one gallon of gasoline. (Photo Provided)
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"The Shell Eco-Marathon UK competition was a great learning experience for our team," stated faculty advisor Allen White, assistant
professor of mechanical engineering, who accompanied the team to the event. "The team has learned much from this competition that will
be incorporated into the plans for next year."
The Shell Eco-Marathon UK Challenge completes a successful 2007 race season in which Rose-Hulman's team won the Society of Automotive
Engineers' Supermileage competition (at 1,541 mpg) and placed second in the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas Challenge (1,637 mpg). Different
engine characteristics were utilized in the Shell Eco-Marathon and SAE events.
"We've established Rose-Hulman as one of the top collegiate teams in efficient vehicles racing," says outgoing team leader Elliot
Goodman, a 2007 mechanical engineering graduate. "This year's team achieved all of its goals."
Rose-Hulman's three-wheeled vehicle utilized a Honda 25cc gasoline engine taken from a weed whacker and a lightweight body made
from carbon fiber, with honeycombed Nomex core and aluminum framing, covered with a clear PETG body shell. The vehicle is eight feet
and four inches long, 26 inches wide and travels one and one-fourth of an inch off the ground.
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Showing Yankee Spirit: Members of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's efficient vehicles team made sure everyone knew they were
the only team representing the United States in this year's Shell Eco-Marathon UK Challenge in England.
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The 2007 team included 18 students majoring in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and civil engineering -- four students
remaining from the original team that formed the RHEV group in 2003. Drivers were Danielle Steinke, a senior civil engineering major from Crystal Lake, Ill.,
and Rose Haft, a senior physics major from La Plata, Md. The driver lays flat on her back
and steers the car by adjusting independent front wheel mechanisms. The vehicle is driven by a single rear wheel that's attached to
the motor, located behind the driver's compartment.
The Shell Eco-marathon UK Challenge had a record number of entrants working towards developing the skills to tackle the energy solutions
of tomorrow. And, the future is looking even better, with over 2,300 school children and their teachers from throughout the United
Kingdom visiting the competition with an eye to competing in the future.
Paul Snaith, Shell Global Solution's vice president of downstream marketing, was impressed by what he saw, stating: "It never fails
to amaze me the team work and energy that these students apply to competing here. Some of the solutions are fantastically innovative
. . . Looking at what these students have achieved, I can see that many of them would be a great asset to Shell and indeed the energy
industry as a whole, and for the engineering and science challenges that lie ahead for all of us."
More information about Rose-Hulman's Efficient Vehicles team is available at
www.rose-hulman.edu/rhev/index.html.
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