Rose-Hulman and Missouri S&T Win Top Human Powered Vehicle Honors

The entry from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, pictured here at the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge West in San Jose, Calif., was the overall winner of the event. The team also placed first in the men's speed race, and second in the design, innovation and women's speed categories.

Engineering students from universities located across North America competed in two Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) events that were sponsored by ASME during the past several weeks. The first meet, HPVC West, was hosted by the ASME Santa Clara Valley Senior Section and took place from April 24 to 26 in San Jose, Calif. The HPVC East event was hosted by the University of Florida in Gainesville from May 8 to 10.

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, one of 29 teams competing at HPVC West, took top overall honors at the event, as it did last year and in many previous competitions. In addition to placing first overall, the perennial favorite finished first in the men's speed race, and second in the design, innovation and women's speed categories.

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), another major force each year at the Human Powered Vehicle Challenges, placed second overall with its human powered prototype, as well as first in the women's speed category and third in design. The University of Hawaii at Manoa, which was new to the competition this year, took third overall, in addition to placing first in the endurance event, and third in the men's speed competition.

The entry from the University of Hawaii at Manoa placed third overall at HPVC West, as well as first in the endurance event and third in the men's speed competition.

Although it was the overall runner-up at HPVC West, the Missouri S&T team went on to become the overall winner at the HPVC East competition two weeks later. One of 31 schools competing at the event, Missouri S&T, finished first in four categories — women's speed, men's speed, endurance and innovation — and placed third in design.

The University of Alabama, meanwhile, took second place in the overall competition, having placed second in both the women's speed and endurance events. The University of Akron finished third overall and second in the men's speed category.

For complete results from the ASME Human Powered Vehicle East and West Challenges, visit https://community.asme.org/hpvc/w/wiki/11346.results.aspx.