ASME Announces Winners of the 2010 Human Powered Vehicle Challenge West

NEW YORK, April 29, 2010 – ASME has announced the winners of the 2010 ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) West, which took place April 23-25 at the California State University-Northridge campus in Northridge, California. The winning teams included Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, Ind.), which placed first in the unrestricted class, and Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, Mo.), which placed first in the speed class.

The ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate engineering students to demonstrate the application of sound engineering design principles in the development of sustainable and practical transportation alternatives. Throughout the competition, students worked in teams to design and build efficient, highly engineered vehicles for everyday use—from commuting to work, to transporting goods to market. These prototypes were judged primarily on their design, speed, safety and functionality.

The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s vehicle, named “Ragnarok”, placed first in the unrestricted class of the competition, a new class designation that presented new opportunities for creativity and innovation with the allowance of potential energy storage devices. The “Rose-Hulman Human Powered Vehicle Team,” who placed first in both the east and west coast HPVC competitions in 2009, also received the Knovelty Award for exceptional creativity and innovation in design, a special judges' award given on behalf of the competition sponsor, Knovel. The Missouri University of Science and Technology’s vehicle, “Siren”, took first place in the speed class of the competition. These teams were two of the 29 student teams that assembled from all over the world to take part in this competition.

“Each year, the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge gives student engineers the chance to take a hypothetical concept and turn it into something tangible and useful,” said ASME President Amos Holt, Ph. D. “We are extremely impressed with the tremendous creativity and determination demonstrated by the teams from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Missouri University of Science and Technology, as well as all of the participating teams in the competition.”

Second and third place teams were also announced for both the speed and unrestricted classes of the competition. These teams included: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (2nd place, speed class), Portland State University (2nd place, unrestricted class), California State University, Northridge (3rd place, speed class) and Colorado State University (3rd place, unrestricted class).

ASME will be holding a similar east coast competition May 7-9 at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT.

About ASME

ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.

###

Media Contact:
Regina Nisita
rnisita@affectstrategies.com
212.398.9680 ext 145

ASME Contact: 
John Varrasi
varrasij@asme.org
212.591.8158