FALL/WINTER 2005-06 — Vehicle Systems
GM and DOE Host Challenge X Engineering Competition Fall Workshop
General Motors (GM) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), co-developers and lead sponsors of Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility, hosted a three-day workshop on September 29-October 1 at GM University in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Bob Lutz, GM Vice Chairman of Global Product Development, and Ed Wall, Program Manager of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies in DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, kicked off Year 2 of Challenge X at the event. Mark Maher and Mark Johnson, GM Co-Executive Leads for Challenge X, and Connie Bezanson, DOE Challenge X Program Manager, assisted them. Representatives from 17 U.S. and Canadian university teams who are participating in the three-year engineering competition attended the workshop.
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DOE's Ed Wall and GM's Bob Lutz at the |
Challenge X is designed to follow GM's Global Vehicle Development Process. Students gain real-world, hands-on learning while facing the same challenges that GM engineers continually address every day. During the competition, the university teams will re-engineer a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox, with three basic goals: reduce energy consumption, decrease emissions, and maintain the performance and utility features of the stock vehicle.
The fall workshop was designed to help the students understand the tasks they must complete in the second year of the competition. More than 20 presentations, working group meetings, and hands-on training sessions provided the teams with the information, tools, and support needed to be successful. In addition, for the first time, a draft set of rules was delivered to students prior to the workshop. "We hope that by providing these rules in advance, the teams will have the opportunity to adequately prepare for and execute the ambitious deliverables for this year's competition," explained Bob Larsen, CTR Director.
At a special dinner held during the workshop, GM's Bob Lutz remarked to students and faculty: "I have the distinct pleasure of laying out your challenge for the second year: integrating your advanced powertrain and subsystem solutions into the Chevrolet Equinox. Some of the best minds in our business have gone into making the Chevy Equinox as efficient as it already is. And many of you may, ultimately, improve upon that considerably. To which I say: Have at it!";
Once the teams have completed their powertrain integration, they may choose to make aerodynamic modifications or aggressive mass reductions to achieve further improvements in fuel economy. Then, they will develop an overall vehicle system to meet the requirements they established in their vehicle technical specifications for performance in areas such as on-road emissions, fuel economy, acceleration, traction control, trailer towing, etc.
Each student team's goal by the end of the competition's second year will be to deliver an engineering mule-level Equinox that, when tested at the GM Desert Proving Ground in June 2006, meets the targets set in their vehicle technical specifications.
More than 20 GM engineers across the company and employees from engineering education are contributing their time and support to make Challenge X a successful learning experience for the students. In addition to Bob Larsen, other CTR staff who participated in the workshop included Kristen De La Rosa, Steve Gurski, Ted Bohn, Forrest Jehlik, and Christine McGhee.
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2006 Challenge X Organizers |
DOE's Ed Wall notes: "We started the advanced vehicle technology competition program at DOE more than 15 years ago, and thousands of students have benefited. This has helped to seed the industry with knowledgeable engineers with a passion for developing advanced technology and spur production advanced vehicle technologies. As our nation faces increasing challenges managing our energy and transportation needs, we are relying on the development of these advanced technologies and engineers with the knowledge of these technologies to help us remain competitive in a global market."
Sponsor
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program
Contacts
Kristen De La Rosa and Steve Gurski
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