News In Engineering

Getting There

Thankful that your plug-in hybrid urban vehicle charged so quickly overnight through the energy in the solar cells on your roof, you rise early to catch that flight to Europe.

Then, your Blackberry sounds; your flight is running an hour late. Now you have a moment to stop at the coffee shop even though it’s rush hour, because the smart traffic control boxes are regulating traffic lights to eliminate congestion. Over your morning java, you check in for your flight via your Blackberry.

At the airport, you’re confident that you’ll arrive in Paris on time, thanks to the airport’s new passenger, fleet and crew optimization system.

A Driving Force in Automotive Research

At Ohio State’s Center for Automotive Research, faculty and students examine transportation alternatives, ask unconventional questions — and then seek answers.

Pitting the desires of consumers against energy, infrastructure and environmental needs requires researchers and industry to ask whether tomorrow’s vehicles need to be drastically different than today’s, says CAR director Giorgio Rizzoni.

“How would they be powered? What would be different about them? Could there be a different set of combination fuels and engine technologies that could rely more on renewable resources? Could there be completely different technologies than the combustion engines we have today?”� he asks.

Another Milestone

Isaac Harper was on the Salt Flats in Utah in 2004 when the first Buckeye Bullet set a national record of 314.9 mph in an electric vehicle powered by batteries.

Now a senior, he was the team leader this year as the Buckeye Bullet 2 reached a new landmark: the fastest time for its new technology, fuel cells, of 223.334 mph.

“My proudest moment was seeing the car disappear across the horizon on its very first run,”� says the mechanical engineering major. “I still think it’s pretty amazing that a handful of college students, with the help of some incredible sponsors, built and raced the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell streamliner in just eight months.”�

Bright and Early

When Robert Siston was hired as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State in 2006, he made space in his new office for the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum award he received here as a student six years earlier.

Now that he is taking the role as mentor, he sees how undergraduate research benefits both himself and the students.

“Maybe explaining things like the basic concepts of a technical topic, how to structure a manuscript, how to critically analyze and interpret data, time management, goal setting, etc., will make us better faculty members,”� he says. “It’s rewarding to see students who are very eager to learn about something of personal interest grow and develop as young researchers.”�

Engineering Research Services

Professor Steve Yurkovich’s work in laboratories at the College of Engineering’s Center for Automotive Research will improve engines made by General Motors.

It’s one thing for a faculty member like Yurkovich to use his or her expertise to solve problems for industry, but it’s quite another task to negotiate the twists and turns of legal, financial and intellectual property agreements.

To facilitate that journey, Yurkovich, like all faculty members, turns to the college’s Engineering Research Services.