 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Seminars SpaceED Future Truck Other Links UC Davis FutureTruck Wins Big!The ChallengeFutureTruck is a competition among university students "to re-engineer full-size SUVs to meet the needs of the future, producing green, efficient transportation that has the performance, utility, and affordability that customers expect." The competition is principally sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and, this year, the General Motors Company. In this year's competition, students from 15 universities modified Chevrolet Suburbans using technologies such as fuel cells and other advanced propulsion systems, space-age materials, and alternative fuels. The teams all use hybrid electric design strategies. For more information about the competition, see http://www.futuretruck.org. For more information about the UC Davis student team, see www.team-fate.net. The resultsThis year, the UC Davis won first place in the overall competition! Overall Competition Awards
By event, the results were:
The Press ReleaseFutureTruck: Proof of Progress Is In The Results WASHINGTON - After two years of development, the results are in and they show the FutureTruck program to be an unqualified success. Fifteen prototype "sport utility vehicles of the future" crossed the finish line at the U.S. Department of Energy and later that day, were on exhibit at the U.S. Capitol to tout their progress toward cleaner, greener transportation of tomorrow. "At General Motors, we measure our environmental progress in three major areas, products, plants and partnerships," says Dennis R. Minano, GM vice president, energy & environment and chief environmental officer. "GM is very proud of our FutureTruck partnership because it addresses our goals of developing more environmentally-sensitive vehicles through the use of advanced technologies, and facilitating the growth of tomorrow's engineering talent. The GM team has always been energized by FutureTruck's mentoring relationships, and continues to be impressed by what the participating engineering students accomplish." The engineering goals of FutureTruck were a tough challenge: take a well-engineered, top-of-the-line sport utility vehicle, and make it even better by increasing its fuel efficiency and lowering its greenhouse gas emissions while achieving ultra-low exhaust emissions: the same challenge facing every automotive manufacturer and engineer worldwide. The top performing vehicles met or exceeded those goals with the University of Wisconsin at Madison, for example, demonstrating on-road fuel efficiency of 28 miles per gallon (gasoline equivalency), a 65 percent improvement over a stock Suburban and the same team, University of Wisconsin, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a remarkable 50 percent when compared to the stock Chevy Suburban. The challenge was straightforward but there was a catch. The teams were required to maintain the performance, safety and features that consumers demand in a utility vehicle. This aspect of FutureTruck elevates it from a student project into a real-world challenge. Each team developed a unique approach - spending thousands of hours testing theories through computer simulations and models as well as actual engineering modifications. Modifications include hybrid powertrains, fuel cells, advanced electronics, lightweight material substitution, alternative fuels and other advanced technologies. The FutureTruck competitive events and testing took place June 4-11, 2001 at the General Motors Milford Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan. Following the weeklong competition, vehicles moved to a finish line ceremony and media event on June 13 at the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, DC. Later that day, vehicles were on display at the U.S. Capitol Building where Members of Congress met with the university teams. The FutureTruck awards ceremony was held that same evening at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington. General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy are the title sponsors of FutureTruck. Other major sponsors include: National Science Foundation, Cisco Systems, ArvinMeritor, Delphi Automotive Systems, BP, Aluminum Association, and Yahoo! Broadcast Services. Additional supporters include: The MathWorks, Newark Electronics, National Instruments, Natural Resources Canada, Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, Renewable Fuels Association, Governors' Ethanol Coalition, and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. General Motors is supplying vehicles, seed money and prize money to the universities for this first stage of competition. Ford Motor Company will replace General Motors as the automotive sponsor in the second two years of competition while the U.S. Department of Energy will continue to provide financial, organizational and technical support. Competing universities include: Concordia University; Cornell University; George Washington University; Georgia Tech; Michigan Technological University; Ohio State University; Penn State University; Texas Tech University; University of California, Davis; University of Idaho; University of Maryland; University of Tennessee; University of Wisconsin-Madison; Virginia Tech; and West Virginia University.
|
