The Vehicle Challenge has had another successful run — this year in Littleton, Colorado, hosted by Bimba, a part of IMI Precision Engineering, on April 11 and 12. Fifteen university teams from around the United States participated. And a huge snowstorm couldn’t stop any of them from getting to Colorado to compete.
The Vehicle Challenge is a competition that combines two technology platforms that are not normally associated with one another—human-powered vehicles and fluid power. Teams design and build their own fluid power vehicles and then compete against each other in three races with the help of NFPA industry sponsors, judges, and mentors. NFPA aims to strengthen the fluid power industry by increasing the number of students educated in fluid power and connect them to careers in the fluid power industry. The Vehicle Challenge helps accomplish this by making fluid power part of the senior capstone at more universities across the country and encouraging participating students to work with industry mentors.
“One of the great things about this event is that students have a direct connection to industry. They are having dinner with CEOs of major companies. Students do not overlook what a great opportunity this is,” said Scott Sawyer, faculty member and student advisor to the University of Akron team.
During the event, students give a presentation on their vehicle construction, testing, and lessons learned. Each team also meets individually with all of the industry judges who assess their vehicle design. Then they battle it out in three races – a sprint race, an efficiency challenge, and an endurance challenge.
This year’s champions are:
Overall Champion: Cleveland State University
2nd Place: California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo
3rd Place: Western Michigan University.
Other competition winners can be found here.
Many thanks to Bimba Manufacturing Company for hosting this year’s final competition event and also to program sponsors Eaton Corporation, Lube-Tech, Parker Hannifin, Source Fluid Power, and SunSource. We could not do this program without your generous support!
Thanks go out to our industry judges and mentors as well. Representatives from all of these companies gave their time and support to all of the university teams: Danfoss, Dura-Bar, FORCE America, Gates, Husco, HydraForce, Iowa Fluid Power, Trelleborg, and Woodward.
For more information about getting involved with the Vehicle Challenge, contact Lynn Beyer at lbeyer@nfpa.com or (414) 778-3364.
Like this post? Share it!
Recent Posts
Member Highlights the Value of NFPA’s Conferences
At NFPA, our members’ experiences are the foundation of what we do. We’re excited to share our latest testimonial video featuring Ken Baker, CEO of Bailey International, who underscores the value of attending NFPA events. In his video, Ken highlights how the Economic & Industry Outlook Conference provides invaluable insights for his business. From the…
NAM Regulatory Update: House Passes Critical Minerals Bill
As part of an effort to bring more information about the regulatory and legal environment facing American manufacturers, NFPA is monitoring the newsfeed of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and will be bringing important updates like this to the attention of NFPA members. (November 15, 2024) The House easily passed an NAM-backed bill intended…
Fall 2024 Economic Update Webinar – Recording Available
The most recent NFPA Economic Update Webinar featured Lauren Saidel-Baker of ITR Economics. Learn what to expect from a number of our industry’s most popular customer markets, while also getting the answers you need to the short-term outlook for the fluid power industry. These insights and more are available to NFPA members in the archived recording of the…