The Mississippi State University EcoCar team hosted an informational meeting Tuesday in the auditorium of Simrall Hall, where it presented the details of its award-winning vehicle to both engineering enthusiasts and prospective members.
Team leader Matthew Doude said the $75 million project is a university-designed competition sponsored by General Motors and the Department of Energy. MSU is one of 16 schools which participates in this highly-competitive three-year program. The competition’s goal is to improve the efficiency and emissions of a vehicle without sacrificing consumer acceptability.
The teams meet and compete at the end of each school year. During the 2009 model and simulation phase of competition, the MSU team earned third place. The second phase of the competition, which involved building the prototype, was last spring and the EcoCar team won first place prize.
This third and final year of the challenge is the “refinement phase” where students add final details to the vehicle. The MSU team plans to add details like noise reduction and a sleek coat of paint as well as a plug-in port to make it easier to electrically charge the vehicle.
University teams are graded each year on several factors including performance, fuel economy, consumer acceptability and safety. They are also limited to only four fuel options for their vehicles: E85 fuel, B20 fuel, hydrogen or grid-generated electricity. Their goal is to make the vehicle look and function like a high quality automakers’ product. The hybrid vehicle runs on electric power for the first 60 miles it is driven and then converts to gas use.
“It is nice being part of a competition that is designed to model the way that major auto manufacturers build the cars we drive everyday,” Tom Goddette, senior mechanical engineering major and team media representative, said.
At the Tuesday informational meeting, the MSU team announced its vehicle had an average mpg of 118 last year, and the second place team’s car had only 57 mpg.
About 15 to 20 students comprise this unique group, working in various capacities from the Mechanical or Electrical Team to the Outreach or Software Team. Lee Pratt, an MBA student, is the Outreach Coordinator.
“We are trying to form teams and to get fresh ideas and fresh perspectives in the Outreach Group,” she states, encouraging anyone who may be interested to look into the group.
The EcoCar program offers opportunities for students to meet and interact with potential employers in their prospective field, whether it is marketing, computer science or journalism. Team members also have the opportunity to travel across the country and to meet political and business leaders and celebrities. In fact, last year, talk-show host (and car enthusiast) Jay Leno commended the MSU EcoCar team’s work.
Since this three-year competition ends this spring, work on the next vehicle will begin in May, so interested students should become involved now. The EcoCar team meets every Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems in the research park across Miss. Highway 182. More information is available at msuecocar.com.
EcoCAR faculty sponsor Marshall Molen has been with the program for several years, and speaks highly of the opportunities it affords students.
“Honestly, this is one of the greatest experiences a student who is interested in vehicular technology could have,” he said.