FEV, Inc. Announces Winners of 2013 FEV Powertrain Development Award

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Advanced powertrain and vehicle systems engineering company FEV, Inc. announced the recipients of the FEV Powertrain Development Award, presented to three collegiate teams that designed, developed and demonstrated exemplary powertrain solutions in the 2013 Formula SAE competition held May 8 – 11 at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) near Brooklyn, MI.  The Award was presented on Saturday, May 11 during the awards ceremony that was held at the conclusion of the competition. 

The Powertrain Development Award considers critical powertrain relevant aspects, including performance, fuel economy, durability and cost in determining a winner.  The award uses a quantitative scoring system intended to be a metric, or equation, for the optimization process that the student teams go through as they develop their solutions, much like the work that a professional engineer might perform on a day-to-day basis in the industry. There are multiple solution paths that a team can employ to win.

The 2013 FEV Powertrain Award winners were:
1st place:     Kettering University, Flint, Mich. (668.7 of a possible 900 pts)
2nd place:    Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria (482.8 pts)
3rd place:     Ecole De Technologie Superieure, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (437.0 pts) 

Notably, The Ecole De Technologie Superieure (ETS) repeated its third place finish for the FEV Powertrain Development Award. Locally, Michigan State University broke into the top ten for the FEV Award with a 9^th place finish, as well as finishing in 9^th place overall in the competition. The University of Akron (5^th), University of Toledo (15^th), Saginaw Valley State University (14^th), and the University of Michigan (16^th) all finished in the top 20 for the FEV Award.

"The technologies on display here in the FSAE competition at MIS parrot what is going on in the automotive industry at the moment," said Robert J. Last, vice president of communications, purchasing, and human resources for FEV, and chairperson of the SAE Foundation's PR and Outreach Committee, the body that oversees the FSAE. "Whether it's a 4-cylinder, a two-cylinder v-twin, or a 1-cylinder engine, whether it's naturally aspirated or turbocharged, there is a clear movement toward downsizing, boosting and lightweighting in the powertrain arena.  Like the rest of the industry, these teams understand that, in today's world, both high performance and optimal fuel economy are necessary.  The FEV Powertrain Development Award seeks to reward this enviable achievement and it does so with an objective, equation-based approach that can be optimized by the FSAE team.  FEV congratulates the winners and recognizes their efforts to meet this demand."

Student teams must adhere to the rules specified by the SAE, which can be found on its Web site, www.sae.org.  In the process of developing engineering solutions for their vehicles, students will have also mastered critical elements of strategy planning, project management, contingency planning, and logistics management, according to Last.

"The Collegiate Design Series provides students with an opportunity to experience the complete engineering and business project cycle, including fundraising and defending the project in a detailed presentation. These are essential skills that engineering students need to acquire to be successful in the industry," said Last.

The overall winner of this year's FSAE-Michigan event was the University of Stuttgart, followed by Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia), and the University of Akron in 3^rd place.   Locally, Michigan State University finished in 9^th position, Kettering University finished in 15^th position overall, and Oakland University finished in 22^nd position.

About Formula SAE
The Formula SAE® competition is for SAE student members to conceive, design, fabricate, and compete with small formula-style racing cars. The restrictions on the car frame and engine are limited so that the knowledge, creativity, and imagination of the students are challenged. The cars are built with a team effort over a period of about one year and are taken to the annual competition for judging and comparison with approximately 100 other vehicles from colleges and universities throughout the world. The end result is a great experience for young engineers in a meaningful engineering project as well as the opportunity of working in a dedicated team effort.

About FEV
The FEV Group is an internationally recognized powertrain and vehicle engineering company that supplies the global transportation industry. FEV offers a complete range of engineering services, providing support across the globe to customers in the design, analysis, prototyping, powertrain and transmission development, as well as vehicle integration, calibration and homologation for advanced internal combustion gasoline-, diesel-, and alternative-fueled powertrains. FEV also designs, develops and prototypes advanced vehicle / powertrain electronic control systems and hybrid-electric engine concepts that address future emission and fuel economy standards. The company has expanded its engineering capabilities to include full vehicle systems and now offers broad expertise in electronics, telematics and infotainment system engineering. The FEV Test Systems division is a global supplier of advanced test cell, instrumentation and test equipment. The FEV Group employs a staff of over 2,500 highly skilled specialists at advanced technical centers on three continents. FEV, Inc. employs over 400 personnel in its North American Technical Center in Auburn Hills, MI.

SOURCE FEV, Inc.