The Northern Arizona University Society of Automotive Engineers continues to fuel the desire for high-efficiency cars, demonstrating super-high mileage during intensive competition.<\/p>\n
A team of students from the College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences finished 15th out of 30 schools from around the world in the recent 2010 Shell Eco-Marathon Americas competition in Houston.<\/p>\n
The Shell Eco-Marathon offers students interested in technology, energy, and transportation a unique hands-on opportunity to compete and showcase their innovations.\u00a0Competing vehicles are evaluated on their overall design, performance, and fuel efficiency. NAU\u2019s team reached over 760 miles per gallon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the project because it intersects the idealism of the green energy movement with the realism of engineering and product realization\u2014product analysis, building and testing,\u201d said\u00a0John Tester<\/strong>, associate professor of mechanical engineering, adding that it takes a lot of work to go from a concept to implementation. \u201cIt\u2019s commendable for students to take the extra time to put this together, especially when they are in such a challenging major already.\u201d<\/p>\n Team members include\u00a0Tanya Gallagher, Derek\u00a0Blash<\/strong>,\u00a0Lauren Green<\/strong>,\u00a0Matt\u00a0Fant<\/strong>,\u00a0Thomas\u00a0Cothrun<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Paul Owen<\/strong>. The faculty adviser is\u00a0Brent Nelson<\/strong>\u00a0with support from\u00a0Ernesto Penado<\/strong>, chair of Mechanical Engineering.<\/p>\n M.C. Gill<\/a>, the world\u2019s largest composite manufacturer, donated high strength honeycomb panels for the construction of the super mileage vehicle.<\/p>\n