Liberty’s HPVC teams places fifth overall at Human Powered Vehicle competition

Liberty University’s 2019 Human Powered Vehicle team, of Liberty’s engineering department, placed fifth overall in the Human Powered Vehicle Competition (HPVC) at Michigan State University Saturday, April 6.

The students, comprised of engineering students from freshmen to seniors, were tasked with crafting a tricycle-like mechanism, then testing its performance amidst 50 other competing engineering schools including Ohio University, Michigan State and South Dakota State at
the HPVC.

Liberty’s student-led team designed the vehicle and also installed electrical, safety and steering elements. 

Liberty took fourth in the women’s drag race and the men’s team finished fifth. During the endurance race, which lasted more than two hours, Liberty recorded the fastest single lap time, but received fourth in that category. The total scores granted Liberty fifth place overall. 

“We have come a long way in five years,” Professor Carolyn Ziebart, the team’s faculty spon-sor, said. “(We) are hoping that next year’s vehicle will place in the top three.”