GM and DOE look to engineering students for answers

Consulting Specifying Engineer Magazine ^ | 12/21/2007

[Professional Engineer]

Engineering students around the country will be able to apply their education to a real-world challenge. The EcoCAR challenge, a contest sponsored by General Motors and the Dept. of Energy, will offer students the opportunity to design a car that gets maximum fuel economy and minimal emissions. The students’ requirements include designing and building advanced propulsion solutions that emulate vehicle categories from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) zero emissions vehicle requirements. The alternative technologies include electric hybrids, fuel cells, bio-fuels, lightweight materials, and high-tech aerodynamics.

The EcoCAR challenge launches in the 2008-2009 academic year as a three-year program with GM, who provides production vehicles, parts, seed money, technical mentoring and operational support; while the DOE and the Argonne National Laboratory research facility will provide competition management, team evaluation, and technical support. The student team will develop their vehicle designs using GM’s modeling simulation process in the first year. In the second and third years, the team will build the vehicle and continue to refine, test, and improve vehicle operation. In April 2008, the judges will choose 16 finalists to participate in the contest.

For more information click here

[Professional Engineer]

GM did a similar student project in the earlier 1990’s with ethanol powered vehicles.

[facedown]

[Red Badger]

[Brilliant]

Sounds like they don’t want to hire real engineers, so they are using the free services of students.

[Red Badger]

GM did a similar student project in the earlier 1990’s with ethanol powered vehicles.

[Red Badger]

GM did a similar student project in the earlier 1990’s with ethanol powered vehicles.

Totally unnecessary......

[delacoert]

mark for later

[incredulous joe]

Complain all you want about not gettin’ where you want to go, at least there is no “carbon footprint”

[Red Badger]

Methanol, ethanol contain lots of carbon............

[sionnsar]

My daughter in such a project a couple of years ago (she's building a continuously variable speed transmission she designed for her Master's project):

[incredulous joe]

Doh!!

[Elsie]

GM and DOE look to engineering students for answers

We alREADY have answers; it's just that they are SO darned EXPENSIVE!!

[Tallguy]

This is fine as teaching exercises go. It may even help GM do a little talent-scouting. But I wouldn’t look for anything truly innovative from undergrad engineering students.

[FastCoyote]

Now CVS transmissions are cool, a lot of this other stuff is wasted effort to satisfy the Goreites. What kind of CVS? There are variable arm ones, and variable pulley kinds (hey, I’m at a loss for words).

[sionnsar]

This is a variable-pulley type.

[FastCoyote]

How many horsies will it put through it? Who knows, I run into venture capitalists somewhat frequently.

[RightWhale]

GM used to have a car design contest. They had about 90% of the junior high school males making little wooden cars fifty years ago. That was when style ruled.

[Professional Engineer]

Sounds like they don’t want to hire real engineers, so they are using the free services of students.

I think of it more as giving students the chance to do real engineering.

[Professional Engineer]

My daughter in such a project a couple of years ago (she's building a continuously variable speed transmission she designed for her Master's project):

Very cool. Now for the real question:

Does she have a sliderule?

[Professional Engineer]

GM used to have a car design contest. They had about 90% of the junior high school males making little wooden cars fifty years ago. That was when style ruled.

You're right, I had forgotten about that. Some very neat looking models came of that.

[sionnsar]

Very cool. Now for the real question:
Does she have a sliderule?

She has several, including (one of) her great-grandfather's. (i have the one with the cigarette burn.)

And she knows how to use them.

[satan]

A couple years ago I bought some popcorn off what I thought was a vendor outside DOE headquarters. The young man explained that he was a summer intern at DOE. Because the popcorn machine was electric and he was studying electrical engineering he was given the related task of popcorn seller.

If DOE is involved it will be a politcally correct disaster.

[purpleraine]

Some body stop the madness. We have the capability now to become energy independent.

Produce flex-fuel cars only, starting next year. Estimate $100 per car. All cars can use methanol, ethanol, gas, whatever the driver wants to buy. Reduce import from middle eastern country and Venezuela by 95% in four years. Cost to manufacturers $1 million for each engine cert. 150 engines.

Stop the hydrogen BS, which was merely a misdirection by the Bush administration.

Source Energy Victory.

Long term all-electric plug-in at home. Build nuclear plants.

[Professional Engineer]

She has several, including (one of) her great-grandfather's. (i have the one with the cigarette burn.)

And she knows how to use them.

Very cool. My dad gave me my second one as a gift a few years ago.

[Elsie]

I have a sliderule and I know how to use it!

(Some versions say... "not AFRAID to use it!")

[Elsie]

Neat clock!

(but... is it 5 after 4 or 1:20?)

[sionnsar]

I used to have a circular sliderule, but don’t know what became of it.

[RightWhale]

Most of our models looked like blocks of wood with wheels. Strangely, most of the 60s GM cars subsequently also looked like blocks of wood with wheels.

[Professional Engineer]

It’s half past Pi.

[Professional Engineer]

Most of our models looked like blocks of wood with wheels. Strangely, most of the 60s GM cars subsequently also looked like blocks of wood with wheels.

ROFL.

I have seen photos of some of the models. Some were pretty darn neat.

[Professional Engineer]

I used to have a circular sliderule, but don’t know what became of it.

I used to have a linear version, with case, instructions, etc. I was lost in a move some time ago. The round one I have has a set of instructions copyrighted 1931.

[Elsie]

Time for CORNBREAD!

[Elsie]

It wasn’t until I got an engineering calculator that I even understood what some of those things on a SL were for!

[sionnsar]

I still have my college sliderule, with directions.