Rochester Institute of Technology's all-Female Team Wins Best Electric Car

For the first time in its 11-year history, a student-built hybrid car completed the entire 44-lap endurance run at the international Formula Hybrid Competition. That same car was also the fastest ever, making its builders, "Mozee Motorsports" from the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), not only record-breakers, but competition champions.

In another first at the Dartmouth-run competition, the top electric vehicle award went to a team of all-female engineers. Hailing from the Rochester Institute of Technology, the 50-member "RIT Hot Wheelz Formula SAE Electric" team took top honors in the electric vehicle category after spending the last 10 months building their powerful orange car, and passing numerous inspections and track runs with flying colors at last week's competition at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Competition champs on the endurance run: MSOE (top) and RIT (bottom). See full album on Flickr.

So, how did MSOE manage to break two records?

"Lots of hard work, perseverance, and teamwork. And properly managing our limited resources," the team responded in a tweet. Not to mention that — as a prime example of the atmosphere of camaraderie — when it came down to the wire, and their axle broke, the competing team from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute lent them a replacement.

Taking second and third places in the hybrid category were two teams from India, Ashwa Racing from RV College of Engineering in Bangalore and Hybrutos Racing from SRM University in Chennai. To ensure the safe arrival of their vehicles in time for the competition, the Indian teams had to finish their vehicle construction much earlier. Ashwa Racing shipped its hybrid car the first week of March to get it to New Hampshire in time for this month's competition. "Gendry (Game of Thrones) helped in shipping. Took the whole of season 6," the team joked.

Nineteen teams from across the US, Canada and India competed in the four-day event, from May 1 – 4, bringing with them 250 engineering students who committed thousands of hours to building highly sophisticated vehicles. Many other team members cheered from their home campuses. Similar to the Formula SAE® competition, students compete in aspects of design, acceleration, handling, and endurance of their vehicle while abiding by rules that minimize risk and preserve students' freedom to innovate. This is the only competition of its type in the world with both hybrid and electric categories.

"One of the great learning outcomes of this competition is that complex machines fail in complex ways," said Douglas Van Citters, Chief Mechanical Technical Inspector for Formula Hybrid, and assistant professor of engineering at Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, which both founded and runs the event. "Even better, however, is that the students rise to the occasion and not only help members of their own team, but they reach across the bays to help each other 'get on track.' It is a tremendous exhibition of problem solving, sportsmanship, and shared experiences that few of these students will ever forget."

2017 OFFICIAL RESULTS

First place teams MSOE (top) and RIT (bottom). See full album on Flickr.

Hybrid Category Top Six

1. Milwaukee School of Engineering (Mozee Motorsports)
2. RV College of Engineering (Ashwa Racing)
3. SRM University (Hybrutos Racing)
4. Dartmouth College (Dartmouth Formula Racing)
5. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (Michigan Hybrid Racing)
6. Lawrence Technological University (Blue Devil Motorsports)

Electric-Only Category Top Six

1. Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT Hot Wheelz)
2. Princeton University (Princeton Racing Electric)
3. University of Vermont (UVM AERO)
4. Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT Motorsports)
5. Tufts University (Tufts Racing)
6. Georgia Tech (HyTech Racing)

2017 SPONSORED AWARDS

• General Motors Spirit of Formula Hybrid Award (Trophy & $2,500.00)
  SRM University (Hybrutos Racing)
• General Motors Best Engineered Propulsion System Award (Trophy & $2,500.00)
  University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (Michigan Hybrid Racing)
• FCA Innovation Award ($1,000.00)
  University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (Michigan Hybrid Racing)
• FCA Industrial Design Award ($1,000.00)
  Milwaukee School of Engineering (Mozee Motorsports)
• FCA Gracious Professionalism Award ($1,000.00)
  Amrita Institute of Technology & Science (Formula Hybrid Agraganya)
• IEEE Engineering the Future Award (Trophy)
  Milwaukee School of Engineering (Mozee Motorsports)
• IEEE Excellence in EV Engineering Award (Trophy)
  Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT Hot Wheelz)

About Formula Hybrid

Like Formula SAE®, students compete in aspects of design, acceleration, handling, and endurance of their vehicle and abide by a list of rules that minimize risk while preserving the students' freedom to innovate. Formula Hybrid teams, however, are faced with the additional challenge of optimizing both energy efficiency and sustainability of materials used in their cars providing students with a uniquely challenging experiential learning opportunity. Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth founded Formula Hybrid in 2006 and continues to organize and host the competition each year. Follow @Formula_Hybrid for results and plans for 2018.

Sponsors

Competition sponsors include SAE International, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sports Car Club of America, LG Chem Power, Harman Inspired, BAE Systems, Synchronoss, Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and Toyota. See full list of sponsors.