Brief

Trucking futures: Cornell's Hybrid Electric Vehicle team placed 5th overall out of 15 entries in the annual FutureTruck competition in Milford, Mich., June 4-11. The student team also won a $1,000 award for Excellence in Renewable Fuels, based both on its vehicle's score in greenhouse gas emissions and on a separate paper submitted by the team. The Cornell team was advised by Bob Thomas, professor of electrical and computer engineering. Team leader was engineering undergraduate Benjamin Starkey. The FutureTruck competitive events and testing took place at the General Motors Milford Proving Ground. Following the weeklong competition, vehicles moved to a finish-line ceremony and media event on June 13 at the U.S. Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, D.C. General Motors and the Department of Energy are major sponsors of the event.

The engineering goals of FutureTruck were to take a sport utility vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, and increase its fuel efficiency and lower its greenhouse gas emissions while achieving ultra-low exhaust emissions. The teams also were required to maintain the performance, safety and features that consumers demand in a utility vehicle. First place overall went to the University of California-Davis.