A team of engineering students from Texas A&M University won the 2009 Formula Hybrid international student design competition held May 4-6 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  The Texas A&M team won all but one event and scored 981 of a possible 1,000 points, the highest winning point total of any Formula SAE or Formula Hybrid design competition in the last 20 years.  Competing teams were from 30 universities and colleges from five countries.  Results are at:         http://www.formula-hybrid.org/competition.php


Formula Hybrid as a student design competition endorsed by SAE International (formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers) and IEEE (formerly the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) that challenges college and university students to design, build, test, develop, and race small, high-performance, plug-in hybrid racecars.  Student teams are scored based on two static events and three dynamic events.

Texas A&M won first place in both of the static events – engineering design and presentation of a business case.  Design presenters were Russell Hall, Andrea Silva, Tyler Liska, Brian Bentley, Mike King, Jon Arendt, and Judson Houston.   The business case was presented by James Law. 

Texas A&M also won two of the three dynamic events.  In the acceleration event the team was third in electric only acceleration and second in engine plus electric acceleration.  Texas A&M dominated the autocross event with a time of 65.65 seconds compared to 81.20 seconds for their nearest competitor.  In the 24 lap endurance event Texas A&M won with an average lap time of 68 seconds.   The Crew Chief for all dynamic events was Chad Kuboviak and the Car Chief was Brain Bentley.  Drivers were Patrick Duffy for acceleration and Tyler Rodgers and Sam Craven for autocross and endurance. 

The car was designed during the fall 2008 semester by senior engineering students in ENGR 401 – Interdisciplinary Design I.  During the spring 2009 semester the car was built, tested, and developed by students in ENGR 402 – Interdisciplinary Design II.  In these courses the students learn and practice a design process developed by faculty members in the Institute for Innovation and Design in Engineering (IIDE) that enables efficient and innovative design.  Texas A&M team members are students from the Departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Mechanical Engineering.

The student project manager was Russell Hall.  The student management staff included Brain Bentley the Engine Lab Manager, Judson Houston the Machine Shop Manager, Chad Kuboviak the Crew Chief, and James Law the Sponsor Coordinator.  Accumulator (battery) group members were Andrea Silva (leader), Nathan Ciomperlik, Chris Schneider, Ben Tiefenthaler. and Adam Bestavros.  Chassis group members were Tyler Liska (leader), Ahmed Abuelaish, Robert Hall, Travis Prochaska, and Tyler Rodgers.  Drivetrain group members were Brain Bentley and Steve Smith.  Engine group members were Blake Gettig (leader), Chad Cowser, and Mike King.  Low Voltage System group members were Ryan Hunnicutt (co-leader), Andrea Silva (co-leader), Freddy Gan, and Mike Longoria.  Motor and Controller group members were Jon Arendt (leader), Chad Kuboviak, and Russell Hall.  Suspension group members were Judson Houston (leader), Ricky Lopez, Alex Jenson, and Evan Vangsnes.  Volunteers who assisted in construction and development of the car were James Law, Allen Fata, Ivan Alaniz, Sam Craven, Patrick Duffy, Bennett Ford, Raymond King, Trevor Jacks, and Daniel Records. 
Advisors were Make McDermott and Kim Moses from Mechanical Engineering and Hamid Toliyat from Electrical and Computer Engineering. 
The team thanks all of the sponsors and the advisory committee members who served as reviewers at multiple design reviews. 

Make McDermott;  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
May 9, 2009