Published: May 13, 2008 10:53 pm            

Human-powered race team pedals to victories

TERRE HAUTE — Over the course of three short years, a group of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology students has risen to the zenith of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering’s Human Powered Vehicle Challenge, pedaling to first place in the western and eastern regional competitions during the past two weekends.

The Infinity team won the men’s sprint race, placed second in the women’s sprint and endurance races, and earned third place in the design report category to capture top honors in the eastern regional on April 25-26 at the University of Wisconsin.

A week earlier, Rose-Hulman took top honors in the western regional at Reno, Nev., by placing first in the design report and female sprint racing categories, second in the male sprint race and third in the endurance race.

More than 50 North American colleges and universities competed in this year’s regional competition, which marked the 25th anniversary of ASME’s Human Powered Vehicle Challenge.

“Our goal was to display our engineering skills in both regional competitions and show that we could compete with the best teams throughout North America.

Obviously, we’re pleasantly delighted with the performance,” stated team leader Tommy Roberts, a senior mechanical engineering major from Weston, Conn.

“The most satisfying aspect is that we were consistent over the course of both weekends — placing first in the male sprint (eastern regional), first in the female sprint (western regional), first in design report (western regional) and second in the endurance (eastern regional). That says something about the level of our vehicle design, quality of testing and training, and ability of our riders,” Roberts said.

Danny Sing, one of the team’s founding members, added: “We’ve been working towards this achievement for several years. It felt great to see the long hours finally pay off.”

After placing second in last year’s eastern regional, a new vehicle was designed and fabricated for this year’s races. The composite monocoque shell frame is significantly shorter (7 feet and 9 inches), slightly narrower (17 inches), and considerably lighter (65 pounds) — all assets that decreased aerodynamics drag and improved performance.

“We easily had the smallest vehicle at the competition. Strong winds on sprint day gave us an edge because of the low profile of the vehicle,” observed Roberts, who is also president of Rose-Hulman’s ASME student chapter. “A great deal of testing was done this year to make the vehicle as stable as possible. As a result, riders felt very confident during sprint day, despite the 30 mph wind gusts at the western regional. The added testing also gave us an edge in the design report, where the judges liked the care we took in developing a safe and stable vehicle.”

Sing, a senior mechanical engineering major from Columbus, Ohio, was the team’s rider in the male sprint races for both of the weekend competitions, topping 44 mph. Rachelle Cobb, a freshman chemical engineering and mechanical engineering double major from Vancouver, Wash., and Ariel Young, a freshman mechanical engineering major from Channahon, Ill., were riders for the female sprint races during the competitions. Cobb achieved 35 mph to win the western competition.

“On the sprint course, driving the vehicle is like being in a tiny go-cart, but faster,” Sing observed.

Other riders for the endurance competition included Wabash Valley natives Rebekah Forsyth, a senior mechanical engineering major from Farmersburg, and Ed Mayhew, a freshman mechanical engineering major from Terre Haute; along with Andrew Boneff, a junior optical engineering major from Churubusco, Ind.; and Zach Goff, a senior mechanical engineering major from Flower Mound, Texas.

The winning team also included Jeff Dovalovsky, a freshman computer engineering major from King of Prussia, Pa.; Nobutoski Hiro, a sophomore mechanical engineering major from Tokyo; Blake Lin, a junior mechanical engineering major from Seattle; Molly Nelis, a senior electrical engineering major from West Olive, Mich.; Cory Pate a senior computer engineering major from Kansas City; Jeff Van Treuren, a sophomore mechanical engineering major from Woodway, Texas; and Chris Wlezien, a sophomore mechanical engineering major from Chicago. The team's faculty advisers are Patrick Ferro and Michael Moorhead, assistant professors of mechanical engineering.

Rose-Hulman’s team earned special recognition at the eastern regional by being awarded the Judges’ Sportsmanship Award for helping competing teams with mechanical difficulties.

“The students stood out as professionals throughout the competition,” acknowledged Moorhead, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. “I consider this team as one of the treasures of the Rose-Hulman community.”

Human-powered vehicles are aerodynamic, highly engineered land-based vehicles that have achieved speeds of over 60 mph. The point of the competition is the elegance and ingenuity of the design, including presentation, practicality and safety. All areas of engineering problem-solving are addressed — it’s not as simple as it appears to design, build and ride these vehicles.

Colleges participating in the ASME competition included perennial national champion Missouri University of Science and Technology, Clarkson University, Drexel University, University of Iowa, Iowa State University, University of Oklahoma, Marquette University, Olin College of Engineering, Polytechnic University, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and University of Wisconsin. There are also teams from Canada and Mexico.

More information about Rose-Hulman’s Human Powered Vehicle team and ASME’s Human Powered Vehicle Challenges can be found at: www.rose-hulman.edu/hpv/ and www.asme.org/NewsPublicPolicy/Newsletters/MechanicalAdvantage/.

        

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