{"id":382082,"date":"2019-05-15T16:02:01","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T20:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=382082"},"modified":"2019-05-16T10:46:16","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T14:46:16","slug":"human-powered-vehicle-offers-so-many-things-in-one-project-382082","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/human-powered-vehicle-offers-so-many-things-in-one-project-382082\/","title":{"rendered":"Human powered vehicle offers \u2018so many things\u2019 in one project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Making Their Mark<\/strong><\/a> is a Newscenter series of profiles celebrating members of Rochester\u2019s graduating class of 2019.<\/em><\/h4>\n

Most of the competitive engineering design teams at the URochester \u2014 Baja SAE<\/a> and Solar Splash<\/a>, for example \u2014 are fully fledged clubs that students can join as early as their first year on campus. The teams work all school year designing and manufacturing a new off-road vehicle or solar-power boat for spring competitions against other universities.<\/p>\n

The Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC) team in the Department of Mechanical Engineering<\/a> compresses all that work into three months or less.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because HPVC, now in its second year, is actually a senior design project \u2014 by design.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a unique opportunity for engineers to compete outside the university,\u201d says Chris Muir<\/a>, professor of mechanical engineering in charge of the department\u2019s senior design program. \u201cThere are clubs like Solar Splash and Baja [which Muir advises], but those are year-on-year clubs. If you\u2019re a double major in music, for example, you may not have the bandwidth to join one of those clubs, and by the time you\u2019re a senior, you\u2019ve missed your opportunity to complete. So, this [HPVC] is an opportunity for that student.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, there\u2019s been no shortage of mechanical engineering seniors eager to join the team, which is limited to eight students each spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt offers a wide range of opportunities in just one project,\u201d says Mira Bodek \u201919, this year\u2019s project manager for the team. \u201cIf you want to challenge the engineering skills you\u2019ve learned in class, you can explore the challenges in drivetrain, or the structural analysis of the frame, or one of the other subsystems; if you want to coordinate a team project in a short time frame and meet competition deadlines, you can do the management side. You see a complete design from conception to completion, and then you get to compete with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"human-powered
Mira Bodek \u201919 of the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge team at the start line of the women\u2019s drag race during the E-Fest North ASME HPV Competition, which was held at Michigan State University. (Photo by Obed Badillo \u201919)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a project that really brings together everything we\u2019ve been learning for the last four years,\u201d adds Obed Badillo \u201919, the lead frame engineer, who applied his skills with NX (an advanced computer assisted design, manufacturing, and engineering software program) and finite element analysis to design and test modifications. He also worked with Bodek on getting financial and in-kind support for the project. Support came from the University, from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers<\/a>, from industry sponsors, and nonprofits. Baja SAE team members also contributed, helping with the welding and frame design.<\/p>\n

As project manager, Bodek was also responsible for handling the logistics of entering the team in the E-Fest North ASME HPV Competition<\/a>, which was held at Michigan State University in April.\u00a0 The team was required to submit a 30-page design report in February and a video demonstrating the vehicle\u2019s safety features a week in advance of the competition. Bodek also was in charge of making sure everything else \u201chit all the checkboxes\u201d associated with the competition.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a role she relishes. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be able to zoom out from the nuts and bolts and explore the management side of a technical project. This has been my first opportunity,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The team also includes Mohammed Alzahrani \u201919 (steering), John Billings \u201919 (chief engineer), Nicholas Lawlor \u201919 (drivetrain), Jordy Mendez \u201919 (aerodynamics\/fairing), Timothy Schuler \u201919 (steering), and Zhenkun Wen \u201919 (aerodynamics\/fairing). Laura Slane<\/a>, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, also worked with Muir and the team during the semester.<\/p>\n

Based on the results from last year\u2019s competition, the team this spring:<\/p>\n