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A team of 13 mechanical engineering students at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville won third place in the endurance category at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Human Powered Vehicle Challenge April 11-13 in Orlando, Fla.

More than 30 teams vied in the international competition. SIUE’s finished product–a three-wheeled, steel-framed, recumbent vehicle–was the culmination of two semesters’ worth of work, according to mechanical engineering senior Terrence Brown.

“This competition was the capstone of our year-long design project,” said Brown, ASME SIUE chapter vice president. “It’s the first time in SIUE School of Engineering history that a senior project has captured an award in an international event.”

Soondo Kweon, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the SIUE School of Engineering, supervised and led the students as their faculty advisor.

To compete in the endurance category, teams’ self-engineered vehicles teams had to complete as many laps as possible within 2.5 hours on a two-lane obstacle course replete with hairpin turns, rumble strips and more. Six team members took turns as drivers. Mere days before the competition when SIUE team members were already in Orlando prepping for their event, they had to cope with an unanticipated malfunction.

“Our (gear) shifter broke,” said senior Morgan Hemker, ASME SIUE chapter president. “We weren’t able to fix it in time, but we still had shifting capability with the front gearing. It took us from a 10-speed to a three-speed, but we made it work.”

Senior Jonathan Kutz credited Kweon for his dedication and expertise as advisor, along with seniors James Stilt and James Leffew who designed and analyzed the lightweight steel vehicle and Chris Holland who engineered its flywheel. The students manufactured the HPV in senior Tim Doyle’s garage.

Safety is a particular emphasis throughout the ASME competition, said Kutz, who added that the SIUE team spent a fraction of what other teams did in manufacturing the vehicle.

“Our 60-pound vehicle had to withstand a 600-pound top load and a 300-pound side load. We were able to achieve that and complete the rigorous course, speed bumps and all. Several teams around us were losing wheels and crashing.”

Senior Hayden Sievers said staying the course, especially in light of the gearshift mishap, made him proud to be a part of the team and to win third place in the endurance category.

“Last year we won fourth place in endurance,” Sievers said. “We were one of very few three-wheeled HPVs in the event, but this year the majority of competitors designed theirs with three (vs. two) wheels.”

Applying engineering principles and competing in a real-world event, sophomore Lauren Bailey said, was definitely time well spent. “The ASME HPV Challenge brought it all to life and made our hard work worthwhile,” she said. “It was exciting. Several of us competed last year, too, and we’ll be back next year.”

Members of the 2014 SIUE High Powered Vehicle team included 10 seniors: Brown, Doyle, Hemker, Holland, Kutz, Leffew, Logan Rennegarbe, Santos Reyes, Sievers and Stilt.

Three sophomores also contributed: Bailey, Brandon Koyanski and Chris Maske.

Photo (L-R):  Chris Maske, Brandon Koyanagi, James Leffew, Jon Kutz, Santos Reyes, Hayden Sievers, Lauren Bailey, and Morgan Hemker.