Cal Poly Wins Human-Powered Vehicle Race

With little more than some ingenuity and several strong pairs of legs, engineering students from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California took first place in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) International Human-Powered Vehicle (HPV) competition. The event, which took place in Maracaibo, Venezuela, was the first of its kind outside of the United States. Four teams from Venezuela and one team from Chile also participated in the competition, while representatives from Ecuador and Peru were observers in anticipation that their students would compete in the future.

Exhibiting a top speed of 40 miles per hour, Cal Poly?s sleek HPV, "Matrix," swept all categories: design, sprints, and endurance. At the heart of this vehicle is what almost looks like an ordinary bicycle, but over several months the university?s team of 17 students designed and built a rigid, lightweight carbon fiber-over-foam frame and covered it with a carbon/Kevlar fairing for rider protection and aerodynamics. Matrix originally made its debut at the ASME Western Region HPV competition back in May, taking second place overall and reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour.

"The first main idea of this event was to participate in an HPV competition," wrote Andes Rondo, the Venezuelan student organizer of the event. Although it was a competition, that didn?t discourage the Cal Poly students from sharing technical advice with their peers. "At the end of the day, we realized that the main idea changed into an event where we built bridges between different communities and cultures," Rondo added. "Now I feel more proud of what we did here."

It seems Cal Poly is becoming an alternative vehicle institution in its own right, as a team of students there also recently won the first Shell Eco-marathon Americas. Powered by conventional gasoline, Cal Poly?s "Curb Hopper" performed at an astounding 1902.7 miles per gallon, earning the team a $10,000 grand prize. Several other teams achieved impressive fuel economy, including students from Los Altos Academy of Engineering in Hacienda Heights, Calif., who won the hydrogen division at 1,038 miles per gallon.