FEV North America Announces Winners of 2014 FEV Powertrain Development Award

AUBURN HILLS, MI--May 20, 2014: Today, FEV North America, Inc. (FEV) announced the recipients of the FEV Powertrain Development Award, presented to three collegiate teams that designed, developed and demonstrated exemplary powertrain solutions in the 2014 Formula SAE competition held May 14 – 17 at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) near Brooklyn, MI. The Award was presented on Saturday, May 17 during the awards ceremony at the conclusion of the competition.

The Powertrain Development Award considers critical powertrain relevant aspects, including performance, fuel economy, durability and cost in determining a winner. The Award uses a quantitative scoring system as a metric, or equation, for the optimization process that the student teams go through as they develop solutions, much like the work that a professional engineer might perform on a day-to-day basis. There are multiple solution paths that a team can employ to win.

The 2014 FEV Powertrain Award winners were: 1st place: Lafayette College (492.9 pts of 900 possible) 2nd place: Carleton University (431.5 pts) 3rd place: Centro Universitario Da FEI (414.8 pts)

Locally, the University of Akron finished in 5th place; Saginaw Valley State University placed 10th; the University of Toledo was in the 12th position; the University of Michigan Ann Arbor finished in 13th place; Oakland University was at the 17th position; Michigan State University broke into the top twenty-five in 23rd position.

"The technologies that the students develop for the FSAE competition mirror the kinds of projects that automotive engineers perform in the automotive industry," said Robert J. Last, vice president of communications, marketing, and compliance for FEV. "In today's industry, technologies such as downsizing, boosting and lightweighting are important in the powertrain arena and they are equally important in the FSAE competition. Like engineers working in the industry, these teams understand that both high performance and optimal fuel economy are necessary in current and future powertrains. The FEV Powertrain Development Award rewards excellence in these areas by adapting an objective, equation-based approach that can be optimized by the FSAE team. FEV congratulates the winners and recognizes their efforts."

Student teams must adhere to the rules specified by the SAE, which can be found in the on the Formula SAE Web site,. As they develop engineering solutions for their vehicles, students will have also mastered critical elements of strategy planning, project management, contingency planning, and logistics management, said Last.

"The Collegiate Design Series provides students with an opportunity to experience the complete engineering and business project cycle, including fundraising and defending the project in a detailed presentation. These are essential skills that engineering students need to acquire to be successful in the industry," said Last.

The overall winner of this year's FSAE-Michigan event was Oregon State University, followed by the Technical University of Munich, and the University of Stuttgart took 3rd place. Locally, the University of Michigan Ann Arbor finished in 8th position.

The Formula SAE competition is for SAE student members to conceive, design, fabricate, and compete with small formula-style racing cars. The restrictions on the car frame and engine are limited so that the knowledge, creativity, and imagination of the students are challenged. The cars are built with a team effort over a period of about one year and are taken to the annual competition for judging and comparison with approximately 100 other vehicles from colleges and universities throughout the world. The end result is a great experience for young engineers in a meaningful engineering project as well as the opportunity of working in a dedicated team effort.

The FEV Group is an internationally recognized powertrain and vehicle engineering company that supplies the global transportation industry. FEV offers a complete range of engineering services, providing support across the globe to customers in the design, analysis, prototyping, powertrain and transmission development, as well as vehicle integration, calibration and homologation for advanced internal combustion gasoline-, diesel-, and alternative-fueled powertrains. FEV also designs, develops and prototypes advanced vehicle / powertrain electronic control systems and hybrid-electric engine concepts that address future emission and fuel economy standards. The company has expanded its engineering capabilities to include full vehicle systems and now offers broad expertise in electronics, telematics and infotainment system engineering. The FEV Test Systems division is a global supplier of advanced test cell, instrumentation and test equipment. The FEV Group employs a staff of over 2,900 highly skilled specialists at advanced technical centers on three continents. FEV North America, Inc. employs over 450 personnel in its North American Technical Center in Auburn Hills, MI.