What’s entirely human-powered, and has engineering students racing from the East Coast to West and back again?

It’s the annual ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge, where over 20 teams of engineering students from across the country compete to build and race their own efficient, highly engineered vehicles, with the overall aim of working toward sustainable transportation for third-world countries.

Pretty cool idea, right? That’s why Knovel participates as a program sponsor. It’s also why I decided to sit down Ross Jensen, an engineering student from Missouri Institute of Science & Technology, whose team earned our very own Knovelty Award for Exceptional Creativity in Innovation and Design AND ranked 2^nd place in the Unrestricted Class in HPVC’s East & West Coast races.

K-Exchange: First of all–Congrats! What was the most rewarding part of the competition?

Ross Jensen: I cannot say enough about this competition.  This has been a huge growing experience for me and I know I can say the same for my teammates. After working so many hard days in the machine shop, trying to develop the next best human-powered vehicle, the best part of the whole experience is showing up to the competition and coming together to admire each other’s bikes.  There is such great camaraderie at these competitions—loaning parts, tools, and bikes. Even many “top secret” ideas and techniques are divulged to the competition.

KX: Can you give me any insight into how The Titan operates and what strategies went into the design?

RJ: Titan is a mid-ride recumbent bicycle that operates with a titanium frame and full carbon fiber fairing. Aside from the exotic frame material, what really makes Titan stand out is its fully electronic landing gear system and reverse gear. Practicality and incorporation of these ideas into design was the focus of the team as they were the parts to make this vehicle stand out. In addition to focus on the new features, we had some extremely dedicated individuals who focused on the quality of the build and its show-worthiness.

KX: What have you learned throughout this journey and how have you grown as a student and engineer?

RJ: I have learned to plan as if nothing will go as planned, and that teamwork and flexibility is key. I learned this in addition to a ridiculous amount of knowledge gained in machining, composites, and design for manufacturability. Working on this design team is what’s going to give my teammates and I an edge over the typical engineering student.

KX: What hardships did you have to overcome as a team to take the prize? How did you boost morale and stick to your vision?

RJ: The project we took on this year was a monstrosity to say the least, with many obstacles along the way! The night before the Indianapolis East Coast Competition was our first time racing in the current fairing, and the bike spent a great deal of time on its side. We also ran into electronic waterproofing issues and let the magic black smoke out. During the Bozeman West Coast Competition, we snapped a titanium fork into three pieces from unknown reasons, and bent the steel replacement later at a 45-degree angle due to a high-speed encounter with a curb head on. Fortunately, we fixed both of these issues in record time during the races. The motivation came from understanding how far we had come. We realized we couldn’t give up in the final hour.

KX: Would you recommend this competition to other college engineering students? What advice would you give them?

RJ: Do it! Just have fun and come race your contraption. The only advice to give would be to make sure your goals are not too lofty for your team size and time to devote to this project.

KX: How has this competition has shaped your goals for your future career?

RJ: I definitely want to do something with high performance and or alternative energy vehicles. Participating on this design team has definitely helped me understand all the different aspects of the design process, and I really like the conception and design optimization parts. My future career is going to have something to do with all of these, but I’m not quite sure what it is just yet.

KX: Since human-powered transport is often the only available type in the developing world, how do you think efforts like HPVC raise awareness for working towards sustainable transportation?

RJ: I really think when the general public sees us racing our ridiculous bikes around, it makes them rethink what a bicycle really is and what it can be! Overall,  HPVC  racing brings about simplifications in design and manufacturing processes, people can start to see how these bikes can be a practical, beneficial part of their life. Currently, I could foresee these bikes as a more practical way to travel in rural areas over longer distances. It’s really cool seeing where this competition is going.

The Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon is a competition that challenges 20 university teams to design, build and operate solar powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive.

Knovel is a team sponsor of the 2011 Solar Decathlon, and students have access to a selection of our trusted technical content as they design their sustainable homes, research energy efficient technologies and sustainable construction and select green building materials. One team, Team Tidewater, Virginia is comprised of students from Old Dominion and Hampton Universities. To learn more about the competition and student involvement, we spoke with students John Whitelaw of Old Dominion and Noel Harrison of Hampton University about their Solar Decathlon team.

K Exchange: Why did you get involved with the solar decathlon?
John: I first saw the Solar Decathlon in 2007, when I happened to be in DC visiting family.  I’ve always been passionate about sustainable design – that’s why I left a career in music and started an environmental engineering degree in the first place – so when I learned about the competition I was fascinated.  Old Dominion  doesn’t have an architecture department though, so I felt sure that I would never have the opportunity to take part in the competition.
Noel: Personally, I knew that being involved in such a comprehensive building project would be extremely beneficial to my architecture education.
John: When I started my Sustainable Development class, I was greeted with the news that ODU had partnered with Hampton University and was going to submit a proposal to the DOE for the Solar Decathlon 2011.  I couldn’t resist, and was the first student to show up on the ODU side.

KX: When did you begin working on the project? What is the status now?
Noel: I was asked to join the team in summer of 2009 and began work on the project the following fall.
John: In September 2009  we started working up our proposal, developing the principles on which we would base our approach: New Urbanism; high-density, affordable housing that integrates well into the existing architecture of our area; and of course net-zero energy use. We developed a design based on these principles for a single family unit extracted from a six-unit building, in an architectural form which is typical to urban design in Norfolk.
Noel: Right now we are knee deep in upcoming deadlines for our 80% submittal, by the end of November we’re expected to submit 80% of our drawings.

KX: How many people are on the team?
John: There are about 60 students on the team, all told, about 20 Hampton students and 40 ODU students.

KX: How are the two schools working together? Does each school bring a different area of expertise?
Noel: Old Dominion University brings the engineering expertise and Hampton University brings the architecture expertise.
John: We also need a lot of Communications/fundraising/marketing skill and labor, which is taken from both schools.

KX: What do you have to accomplish between now and the end of the project?
Noel : By the end of next month we will have about 80% of the drawings complete. So we have to complete that set of drawings, begin construction, test the systems and transport the house to the mall for competition!
John: We’ve got a lot of specifications to develop as we work forward from our 80% design to the construction documents.  Of course, after that there is construction and testing, followed by disassembly and shipping the house to Washington DC for reassembly and the competition.  And of course the disassembly of the house, shipping the pieces back to Norfolk and the reassembly at the house’s final resting place.

KX: What are the most difficult challenges you’ve faced so far?
John : I find the biggest challenges are political and logistical.  With a 60-student team, faculty advisors, university staff and administrations from two institutions, there are always conflicts that come up which need to be resolved in a mutually satisfactory way for the team’s benefit.  Finding that mutually satisfactory way forward is not always obvious.
Noel: One of the welcomed challenges is learning how to integrate the architect and the engineer’s expertise from the beginning phases of design to present beautiful, efficient product.
John: Logistics are not the primary focus of the competition, but they are a key element which is required to be successful.  Getting the money in time, following state procurement rules, arranging public relations events, getting the right people in the right place at the right time – these are all challenges which my university education did not prepare me for directly, but which I and the rest of the team have had to face.

KX: Have you had a chance to use Knovel yet? If so, where have you found Knovel helpful?
John : From an initial look, the resources available look very good, as if they will be useful to our project and our overall learning.  I’m also leading the solar design element of the project, and was using hard copy textbooks and similar resources prior to getting access to Knovel.  Scanning the available resources on Knovel, it looks like there are more recently published references available which will help to refine my knowledge and develop a better design.

In May 2010, Knovel announced the winners of the 2010 National Merit Bill Woishnis Scholarship, which honors the life and memory of Knovel co-founder Bill Woishnis. One of this year’s winners is Brendan A. Freund of Wood River High School in Idaho. Brendan is going to be studying Mechanical Engineering at Stanford starting this fall. I recently spoke with Brendan about growing up in Wood River, his plans for college and why he wants to be an engineer.