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Engineering students hit the road with vehicle designs

June 12, 2019

Three vehicle projects from the School of Engineering are providing students experience in every stage of the process, from drafting and computer modeling to electrical and mechanical engineering.

The Human-Powered Vehicle project was started in 2014 as a way to generate student excitement and engagement for the first year of the school’s mechanical engineering program. This year’s team — made up of 24 mostly mechanical but also electrical, industrial, and computer engineering students — placed fifth out of more than 50 colleges at an international competition sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and hosted by Michigan State University in early April.

The three-wheeled recumbent vehicle, weighing 68 pounds, finished fourth in the women’s drag race, fifth in the men’s drag race, and fourth in the two-and-a-half-hour endurance race, in which it recorded the fastest single-lap time.

“We are really excited to see how far we have progressed,” said lead engineer Joel Lederfind. “We were giving the best engineering schools in the nation a run for their money.”

Senior Caleb Wakeley served as the lead manufacturing engineer and junior Dylan Hare was instrumental in the steering design and fabrication. Wesley Falwell provided assistance in welding the frame, axle, and steering column in Liberty’s metal shop.

Next year, Liberty’s Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) team hopes to add to the School of Engineering’s honors when it showcases its first electric race car. With support from Hendrick Motorsports, the team is gearing up to enter an international competition in June 2020 in California.
Leading aerospace engineering companies SpaceX and Blue Origin, as well as Waymo, developer of the self-driving Google car, have attended recent Formula SAE races and hired program graduates.

The Formula SAE team received a grant from Hendrick Motorsports that covers the cost of components of the car and the tools needed to assemble it.
This year’s team included 34 students. They started with a computer model and used it to construct a prototype at Liberty’s Center for Energy Research & Education facility in nearby Bedford County. The design is complete, and professionals at Hendrick Motorsports welded its steel frame in their body shop in Charlotte, N.C. In May, students began installing the car’s various components, including the battery-powered motor, electrical system, steering, suspension, tires, and brakes. They plan to test the vehicle by the start of the spring semester. The car is expected to reach top speeds of 60-70 mph.

Ten students have also designed and manufactured a gas-powered Baja off-road vehicle to be entered into a Baja SAE competition next spring. That competition tests the vehicles’ endurance, speed, and mobility over rough terrain.

When the new School of Engineering building opens in Fall 2021, the vehicle teams will have larger bays for working on vehicles.

Dr. Mark Horstemeyer, Liberty’s new School of Engineering dean, who previously served in Mississippi State University’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (one of the world’s premier automotive research centers) expects big things to come from the school in the future.

“This is just the beginning of what we’re going to see at Liberty University,” he said.

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