Committing his team three years to a project he might not see come to fruition, Jonathan Lohr , a senior in mechanical engineering, sees the importance in developing an “EcoCAR.”
Lohr is leading N.C . State into the University’s second attempt in the EcoCAR competition, an event sponsored by General Motors, the U.S . Department of Energy, Argonne National Laboratory, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Government of Canada. The goal is to build a hybrid energy efficient car.
The competition is between 15 universities across North America and spans three years. The teams are given a 2013 Chevy Malibu, and it is up to the engineers to come up with a plan to make the car more environmentally friendly.
According to the official EcoCAR website, the teams are aiming to reduce fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, criteria tailpipe emissions and maintain consumer acceptability in the areas of performance, utility and safety.
“We’re working on a hybrid engine and trying to combine battery fuel,” Meredith Towery , outreach coordinator for ecoCAR and graduate student in communication, said. “There are hybrid cars out there, but there are a lot of problems with it not meeting consumer standards. You’re sacrificing areas in quality, speed, safety, things like that. So we’re trying to build a car that doesn’t sacrifice any of those things.”
According to Lohr , EcoCAR project manager, the team looks to finalize its vehicle design.
“Our design must maintain much of the performance of the donor vehicle that will be donated from GM and improve on emissions and energy consumption,” Lohr said. “We design in three main fields; mechanical, electrical and controls.”
However, the competition is not just about working on the car. Participants attend workshops throughout the year.
“We did a workshop in Austin, Texas in February,” Towery said. “We’re going to Los Angeles in May. [At] each of these workshops, all of the universities meet.”
N.C . State proved to have the best outreach communication at the most recent workshop in Texas, according to John-Paul Overton, outreach volunteer and junior in science education.
“Social networking has been our biggest factor,” Overton said. “They say that has helped us, especially to gain attention around campus.”
The team currently consists of around 25 participants, but they encourage anyone who might be interested to get involved. At the workshops, teams were told that GM hires 90 percent of the engineers who participate in the ecoCAR challenge.
“The volunteers that we’ve had have really stepped up and done a great job,” Towery said. “We definitely appreciate people who want to help out.”
They are looking for students of any year, including graduate students, and all majors are welcome on the team.
“The main focus is really on the engineers, the ones building the car…[but] it really helps to have a large variety of people to have input and help out with the program and the project,” Towery said.
In addition to the EcoCAR project, the team aims to educate the younger generation in green practices and future career opportunities.
This coming Saturday, they are attending a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) expo at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School to talk about the project and educate high school students about hybrid cars and environmental awareness.
“It’s not completely focused on the car. We do try to promote other green practices in addition because that’s the whole thing-helping the environment,” Towery said.
If you don’t have time to get involved with the project, the EcoCAR team said people can still help by following some tips, including turning off heaters, re-using plastic grocery bags, printing double-sided, paying bills online and inflating your tires.
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More information can be found on the official N.C . State EcoCAR website: http:// ncsuecocar.com .
