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Rose-Hulman Chosen to Once Again Participate in EcoCAR Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition
April 20, 2011
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's
leadership role in setting the course for advanced transportation
technology and efficient fuel initiatives has been further enhanced
by the college's selection to once again participate in the
EcoCAR advanced vehicle development program by the U.S. Department
of Energy.
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Supporting Project: U.S. Sen. Dan Coats shows his support
for Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's EcoCAR project, led by
junior mechanical engineering major Chad Conway. Coats was
given a test ride in the sport utility vehicle that students have
re-engineered to reduce the vehicles' environmental impact
without compromising performance, safety and consumer
acceptability.
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The EcoCAR2: Plugging into the Future competition strives to
help prepare future engineers for opportunities in clean energy and
advanced vehicle industries. Event details were announced on
Wednesday, April 20, by Rose-Hulman officials and U.S. Sen. Dan
Coats and U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon at a campus ceremony.
Rose-Hulman is among 16 North American colleges and universities
specially selected to participate in the unique, three-year
educational partnership between General Motors and the Department
of Energy. Colleges offered detailed proposals about how they
would integrate the vehicle design and development process into
their engineering curriculum, develop public/private partnerships
to promote advances in new technology, educate the next generation
of American innovators, and support America's transition to a more
efficient transportation sector.
"Our admittance to the U.S. Department of Energy's highly
competitive EcoCAR2 competition affirms our role as a higher
education leader in advanced transportation," stated Rose-Hulman
President Matt Branam. "Our students will help shape the
landscape of the automotive industry of tomorrow. The EcoCAR
program provides our students
real-world, hand-on experience with cutting-edge challenges of
today."
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Learning About Student Project: Rose-Hulman Institute of
Technology's EcoCAR Team Leader Chad Conway shows U.S. Rep. Larry
Bucshon (middle) and U.S. Sen. Dan Coats some of the features in
its hybrid vehicle that has been designed and constructed for the
EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge national engineering competition.
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In EcoCAR, Rose-Hulman students explore a variety of powertrain
architectures and follow a real-world engineering regimen modeled
after GM's Global Vehicle Development Process. For EcoCAR2,
each team will utilize a Chevrolet Malibu, donated by General
Motors, as the integration platform for their advanced vehicle
design. The vehicle will be tested for its reduction on the
environmental impact without compromising performance, safety and
consumer acceptability.
Rose-Hulman's selection for EcoCAR2 means the college and its
students will have been involved in America's three premier
advanced transportation design competitions. The college is
currently wrapping up its participation in EcoCAR: The NeXt
Challenge, a three-year competition that culminates June 5-16 at
General Motors' Proving Grounds near Milford, Mich., and the U.S.
Department of Energy's offices in Washington, D.C.
Rose-Hulman also participated in the four-year Challenge X:
Crossover to Sustainable Mobility project, from 2004-2008.
The EcoCAR project is part of Rose-Hulman's advanced
transportation program, which has several partners with
industry. Other student projects in the program include the
Efficient Vehicles Team, Human Powered Vehicle Team, Gran Prix
Engineering Team, Team Rose Motorsports and Design-Build-Fly
aeronautics team.
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Looking Toward The Future: U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, a member of
the Senate's Energy Committee, talks about the role Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology students could play in paving the way for
America's energy independence.
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EcoCar2's combination of cutting-edge engineering practices,
hands-on experience, exposure to world-class organizations and
knowledge sharing in a competitive and team-oriented environment
gives participating students a head start toward future job
success. Participants will make contributions that will help
keep the North American automotive industry competitive in the
global market place, which is increasing adopting fuel efficient
designs.
"The EcoCAR competitions mimic what is really going on in the
automotive industry today," states Rose-Hulman EcoCAR Technology
Mentor Arthur L. McGrew Jr., design system engineer for GM's
EV/hybrid powertrain engineering. "GM and the automotive
industry are changing the DNA of the automobile to address the
energy concerns of today and the looming energy crisis of
tomorrow. There is a universal thought that the
transportation needs of the future will not be met by one complex
solution but several cost effective ones.
"Furthermore, by structuring the EcoCAR competition around the
GM vehicle development process, you are exposing the students to
the real world, where great ideas can only make it to production if
you can prove their technical merit while meeting your schedule
deliverables," states McGrew. "It is the engineers and
scientists of tomorrow that will ultimately solve the energy
challenges of today, and it is competitions like EcoCAR2 that help
energize and equip these students to meet these difficult
challenges."
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Announcing the EcoCAR2 Assignment: General Motors Corp. will
provide Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with a Chevrolet Malibu
as the integration platform for their advanced vehicle design
throughout the EcoCAR2: Plugging into the Future competition.
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General Motors provides production vehicles, vehicle components,
seed money, technical mentoring and operational support. The U.S.
Department of Energy and its research and development facility,
Argonne National Laboratory, provide competition management, team
evaluation, technical and logistical support.
Joining Rose-Hulman in EcoCAR2 will be California State
University- Los Angeles, Colorado State University, Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Mississippi State
University, North Carolina State University, The Ohio State
University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University,
University of Ontario Institute of Technology (Canada), University
of Tennessee, University of Victoria (Canada), University of
Washington, University of Waterloo (Canada), Virginia Tech and
Wayne State University.
Learn more about EcoCAR2 at www.ecocar2.org.
More video:
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Senator Coats tours campus in EcoCar
with Chad Conway at the wheel.
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Rose-Hulman celebrates selection to
EcoCar2
with Indiana Senator and
Representative.
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