Pre-launch at Discovery 09

EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge is a three-year collegiate advanced vehicle technology engineering competition established by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors (GM), and is being managed by the DOE's Argonne National Laboratory.

The competition challenges 17 universities across North America to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles by minimizing the vehicle's fuel consumption and reducing its emissions while retaining the vehicle's performance, safety and consumer appeal. Students will design and then install their engineering innovations into a 2009 Saturn Vue.

Students will explore a variety of cutting-edge clean vehicle solutions, including full-function electric, range-extended electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell technologies. In addition, they will incorporate lightweight materials to improve aerodynamics and utilize alternative fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen.

At Discovery 09, a Saturn Vue will be on display and presentations will be given by Mike Wahlstrom, a Controls & Simulation Engineer with Argonne National Laboratory, about the upcoming EcoCAR competition which officially launches in Toronto on June 7, 2009. For more information, visit www.ecocarchallenge.org.

Competing Canadian Universities

University of Ontario Institute of Technology (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada)
University of Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)

Competing American Universities

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, FL)
Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA)
Howard University (Washington, D.C.)
Michigan Technological University (Houghton, MI)
Mississippi State University (Starkville, MS)
Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, MO)
North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC)
Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN)
Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX)
University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI)
Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA)
West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV)