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MTU FutureTruck Team Takes a Bronze
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July 2, 2003--Michigan Tech has again finished among the top teams in FutureTruck, taking third place and $4,000 in the annual competition that challenges college students to build a better SUV. There was just one minor setback.
"We had to change the whole engine configuration at the last minute," said the team's advisor, Associate Professor John Beard (ME-EM).
At Ford Motor Company's proving grounds in Romeo, students were testing their Ford Explorer in preparation for the towing event when bad things started to happen.
"We got a phone call saying come back to the pits, the engine is blowing up," Beard said.
By the time he reached the dying vehicle, the students were already engineering its resurrection. Instead of using this year's new design to transfer power to the wheels, they reverted to the 2002 configuration. As they made the switch, they discovered the problem: a supporting part had failed, starting a chain reaction that snapped the drive shaft.
In less than 90 minutes, Michigan Tech's Explorer was back on the road. "Our team did really well," Beard said.
In FutureTruck, student teams take a conventional Ford Explorer and reengineer it to lower emissions and increase fuel economy without sacrificing performance, utility, safety and affordability. The event, sponsored by Ford and the Department of Energy, brings together teams from 15 top universities across North America.
The MTU Explorer was powered by a hybrid gas-electric engine, with the four-cylinder gas engine charging a bank of batteries. While Tech has yet to win the prestigious, invitation-only competition, it is traditionally one of a handful of schools to beat.
"It has a lot to do with the people involved, having the right people in the right spot on your team," said team captain Nick Manor, a senior in computer engineering. "We are one of the teams that build the truck to win. Those teams know how to talk to the judges, give the good presentations, write the good reports. Those are the teams at the top."
These teams also build on existing technologies, working to refine and improve them every year. "We shaved 300 pounds off the stock truck, which made us 50 pounds lighter than Wisconsin's truck," Manor said with a smile. "They embrace aluminum, but we did it with steel."
This year, FutureTruck was held in concert with Ford's centennial celebration. Thousands of spectators walked through the exhibit showcasing the FutureTruck entries.
Unlike in past years, MTU did not win any special awards, with one small exception
"On one of the down days, the staff got a little push scooter and had one representative from each team run the handling course," Manor said. "One of our guys, Brian Bartley, beat the times of seven of the trucks on foot.
"They painted the scooter to match our truck and gave it to us at the sponsor dinner. That was fun."
The University of Wisconsin-Madison finished first in 2003 FutureTruck, with the University of California at Davis taking second. Other participating schools were California Polytechnic State University, Cornell University, Georgia Tech, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Texas Tech, the University of Alberta, the University of Idaho, the University of Maryland, the University of Tennessee, Virginia Tech and West Virginia University.
For more information on FutureTruck, visit http://www.futuretruck.org . To learn more about Michigan Tech's team, including the advanced technologies it uses on its Explorer, visit http://www.me.mtu.edu/~fcc/ |
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