Hybrid hype

Six mechanical engineering students recently came into possession of a car worth as much as $15,000 thanks to Temple – but not to take it for a test ride.

The students are working to build the next-generation hybrid car out of a 2001 Audi TT.

The 11-month project, nicknamed HEATT for Hybrid Electric Audi TT, has four undergraduates and two graduate students working to completely eliminate the standard internal combustion engine and build an experimental hybrid electric drive system.

“With this project, it’s pretty much what a mechanical engineer wants to do, just design and build stuff,” senior Pete Strahs said. “You get to work hands on and implement everything you were taught in class. The project requires a lot of energy and time on our part, but it’s going to be a great result.”

The project’s blueprint requires the vehicle to run off three sources of power: lithium batteries, a generator and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, which use hydrogen fuel and oxygen from the air to produce electricity. 

The goal is to increase the efficiency, range and performance of the vehicle while minimizing harmful emissions.

The group chose the Audi TT for its lightweight, “smooth and curvy” frame, as well as its aesthetic and spacious interior, Project Adviser Dr. Parsaoran Hutapea said.

What makes this project so special, Hutapea said, is the opportunity to display the engineering program’s raw talent.

“Hey, we have a very good program here, and look, these guys can compete with any engineering kids anywhere in the states,” he said. “This shows that we have a valid program.” 

The four undergraduates, Strahs, Christophe Garant, Keith Schafer and Jordan Weaver, will satisfy their senior design project requirements with this endeavor. 

The assignment includes a group presentation to administrators, professors and peers, including a poster and an accompanying 15-page paper detailing what they learned through the experience. 

“One of the good things that Temple has done is allowing us to complete a project like this as undergraduates,” Strahs said. “Other larger schools would be more of a Master’s or Ph.D. project with undergrads in a supporting role … but here, with this project, it’s largely on our shoulders with support from graduate students in other areas.”

The doctoral candidates participating in the project are Georgiy Diloyan, a native of Ukraine who worked across Europe before coming to Temple, and Luis Breziner, who earned his Master’s in engineering from Temple in May 2009. Both bring extensive knowledge of PEM fuel cells.

The students spent an average of 40 to 45 hours per week working on the car this summer. 

Since classes began and while they await parts, the group spends 15 to 20 hours per week working in the composites lab on the second floor of the School of Engineering and Architecture building.

Before getting their hands dirty, the students used the month before the car’s arrival to prepare by perusing texts and watching YouTube videos on the dichotomy of the hybrid engine. 

The students said they hope to have the car electric by October and a working hybrid by April, when the design projects due.

As far as talking about the remodeling process, the team members are keeping their lips sealed. They said they hope to eventually apply for a patent on their reworked 2001 model and don’t want to risk giving away valuable strategies.

The car, which was made possible by an Extramural Programs grant of $250,000 and is owned by Temple, has an uncertain future after its completion.

“As the technology keeps changing, the car will most likely change with it,” Hutapea said, “and continue to be a guinea pig for future research.”

Tom Rowan Jr. can be reached at
thomas.rowan@temple.edu.

Campus engineers to help PennDOT

Temple’s civil and environmental engineering department has entered a five-year $5 million contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Faculty and students will assist PennDOT in various infrastructure related projects, such as evaluating the level of deterioration in an old bridge and recommending ways to solve the problem.

“It will help us meet some applied research needs in the areas of research and education,” said Michael Bonini, research program manager at PennDOT. “This is another tool we have in our tool box in real world transportation problem solving.”

“As with any other project, the goal of our projects is not only to do research, the main goal is to train our graduate students and undergraduate students,” said Michel Boufadel, the department chair. “In all our projects, we try to involve our students.”

PennDOT has similar partnerships with Penn State University and the University of Pittsburgh.

Temple will work in the 5th, 6th and 7th districts in Philadelphia but is not confined to only those districts.

Penn State is involved in the central part of the state and the University of Pittsburgh will work in the western section.

Temple will begin to work in March 2009.

Currently, the faculty is looking at three different bridges in the state and will later involve students in its work.

Graduate and undergraduate engineering majors’ roles include going on-site and do field work in evaluating the damage in a bridge and providing recommendations to the faculty as to what work needs to be done.

Most of the $5 million will go toward covering equipment and travel expenses for students while a small portion of the money will go to the faculty.

“Our project is not for profit,” Boufadel said. “We conduct research, we train people and we publish the results, so there is no place for us to say we made a profit.”

Boufadel said PennDOT and other government organizations began initiating contracts with universities after realizing the need to repair the infrastructure in the United States, especially devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and the 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse.

“This is amazing that a country such as the United States – the top in the world in science and engineering – would have a problem such as that,” Boufadel said. “This country has the resources to fix bridges, so I think there is a big awareness to fix the infrastructure.”

Most highways and bridges in the United States were built in the 1950s and are in need of repair.

“Most of the infrastructure for our country is pretty old, which means a lot of structural work needs to be done,” said Tim Jennings, a senior structural engineering major.

Students in the project will also analyze the surrounding environment near bridges and roads.
“PennDOT is not just interested in structures and concrete, they are interested in the environment surrounding the structures.” Boufadel said.

PennDOT will provide students with contacts and information about working in the transportation business and host academic workshops.

“We are excited to work with Temple, we have not done so in the past,” Bonini said. “Our interactions with the faculty at the university so far have been outstanding, and we are looking forward to building a successful relationship.”

Brian Dzenis can be reached at brian.dzenis@temple.edu.

Cost to educate varies

Students enrolled in the College of Engineering will get what they pay for this semester.
Tuition rates have increased for engineering students in order to cover the costs of “significant infrastructure needs,” such as new student labs and upgrades to machine shops, said Don Heller, director of finance and administration at the college.

For full-time undergraduate students, tuition increased $400 a year for the next five years. Part-time undergraduate engineering students and part-time graduate students saw their rates increase by $13 and $20 per credit hour, respectively, for the next five years. A 5.9 percent raise was also added to tuition rates for all students, according to the university’s fiscal 2008-2009 budget.

The increases are expected to raise $5.1 million for the college, said Ken Kaiser, university’s associate vice president and chief financial officer. Heller said there are approximately 1,000 students enrolled at the college this semester.

“Tuition differentials are very common in higher education,” said Anthony Wagner, senior vice president and chief financial officer. “It has to do with certain programs having significantly greater costs. Temple hasn’t done this as much, but it’s something we’ll probably think about doing in the future if the need arrives.”

The Fox School of Business and Management and the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management both raised their tuitions last year. The Tyler School of Art and its architecture program also have differential tuitions, along with the Boyer College of Music and Dance and the College of Health Professions.

College of Engineering officials surveyed about 20 engineering schools throughout the country while planning in the spring, Heller said, and found only one college without a differential tuition.
Along with new labs and machine shop upgrades, Heller said the money would pay for graduate student support and additional funding for student groups, such as the Society of Automotive Engineers.

The College of Engineering’s rate increases was passed along with the university’s budget in June, Kaiser said.

Heller said the college looked at other funding sources, like direct funding from the university and from outside sources like alumni or industry, but the differential made the most sense.

“You still have to go out and [look for outside funding],” Heller said. “We continue to do that on a regular basis.”

Shrinking state support made direct university funding unlikely, Kaiser said. State funding increased just 1.5 percent for the 2008-2009 school year, well below the estimated 3.9 percent increase in higher education price inflation. The university has become more reliant on tuition revenue to offset its operating costs.

“One of the beauties of tuition differentials is that it’s really targeted,” Kaiser said. “The student that’s paying for it is really benefiting from it. Could the university have raised tuition for everybody? I guess. But then the other students are paying for [the engineering students].”

Heller said engineering officials met with about 25 student group leaders last spring to get their feedback, and they thought the rate increases were “very reasonable.” He said he is confident that most students know about the rate increases from their student leaders and the university’s Web site.

The infrastructure improvements are expected to impact every student because the engineering curriculum is comprised of core classes that will require them to use the new labs.

Nick Pipitone can be reached at nicholas.pipitone@temple.edu.