Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ held its annual 2018 Stevens Innovation Expo on May 2nd—a showcase for student design, innovation and entrepreneurship. The main exhibition displayed the breadth of ideas and the wealth of innovation that students pour into their Senior Design Projects—the culmination of an education focused on problem-solving, multi-disciplinary thinking and teamwork. The senior design groups were able to display and test their work in front of thousands of students, faculty and guests at the Stevens campus.
This year MICRO, a contract manufacturer, in Somerset, NJ sponsored one of the senior projects, Team VeloSITy’s Eco Car—that was displayed at the Innovation Expo. The company is constantly participating in many of Stevens’ activities and actually sponsors a co-op program at MICRO each summer to employ student interns from Stevens to assist in their engineering department.
Team VeloSITy is group of Mechanical Engineers from Stevens on a mission is to develop a car to compete in the Shell 2019 Eco-Marathon competition where they hope to develop the most fuel efficient vehicle possible in the prototype division. However, the foundational mission is to design sustainable technologies that can be applied to the current automotive industry. Such an industry relies almost entirely on non-renewable energy sources that are running dangerously low, and have a devastating impact on the environment.
This environmentally conscious vehicle is an efficient hydrogen-powered vehicle that does not require fossil fuels. Team VeloSITy’s Eco Car contributes to the global goal of achieving sustainability, whereas the cars currently sold only upend it. The car currently can reach a speed of 25 mph with a range of about 75 miles.
The VeloSITy team is currently using one Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell from Horizon to power their one-person vehicle; which will compete in the future Shell Eco Marathon competition. With this car, team VeloSITy is planning on raising awareness about the potential of this fuel source and be part of the research going towards making this system an integral part of the transportation sector.
Team VeloSITy Members:
Alex Barajas,
Anthony Cicalese,
Kristian Cichon,
Tristan Hollenbaugh,
Nicole Munz,
Benjamin Traskunov,
Jayson Winick,
Jiahao Wu