UT Challenge X

Challenge X Team Leader Throws First Pitch!

2008-04-22T20:05:00.006-04:00

Tennessee Challenge X team leader, Scott Curran, threw the first pitch for the UT Lady VOls Softball team for Earth Day.Before the first pitch the announcer talked about the Challenge X and UT Biodiesel program, the Revolution X was parked outside the stadium and Challenge X information was at the Make Orange Green Booth. At the top of each inning a green fact about UT was mentioned and during the top of one inning a "race" between cardboard cutout cars, one hybrid, one biodiesel, and one gasoline happened in the outfield with the biodiesel car winning the race and the hybrid in a close second.
Lady Vols Softball

Catholic High School Presentations and Ride and Drive

2008-04-14T21:38:00.002-04:00

Team Leader Scott Curran Presented to 6 different physics, environmental studies and computer science students at Knoxville Catholic High School. After each presentation the class had an opportunity for a ride and drive. Students who answered questions during the presentation were awarded Team Tennessee Shirts or pens depending on who difficult the questions.

Oak Ridge Earth Day

2008-04-12T21:00:00.001-04:00

Tennessee Challenge X and the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition partnered up to showcase the Revolution X and a Biodiesel Powered VW Beetle owned by DOE's Mark Downing at the Oak Ridge Earth Day celebration. Mark Downing and Team Leader Scott Curran were on site all afternoon to answer questions about biofuels and hybrids. Over 7000 people attended the festival.

Run for Clean Air

2008-04-12T20:17:00.000-04:00

Challenge X not only participated in the 2008 Run For Clean Air as a display vehicle and with an informational booth but also was a race sponsor. The Challenge X logo appearers on the Run for Clean Air Website, the race day banners and the run shirts!. 343 runners registered for the race and many more turned up to support the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition (DOE Clean Cities).

Borg Warner Sponsor Event

2008-04-11T23:28:00.000-04:00

Members from Team Tennessee drove to Asheville NC to the Borg Warner Turbocharger plant to present Brock Fraser and John Norton with awards for supporting the Tennessee Challenge X program. Team members recieved a tour of the plant and learned more about how turbo chargers are playing an important role in clean diesels and new direct injection spark ignition engines.

NCUR 22

2008-04-11T21:43:00.000-04:00

Team Member, Wayne Ferguson, presented the SCR work from Team Tennessee at the 22nd annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research at Salisbury University in Salisbury Maryland. Wayne also submitted a paper to the conference proceedings which was accepted pending minor correction for publication.

EURCA AWARDS

2008-04-03T21:05:00.000-04:00

Chance Donahue won one of the College of Engineering awards for best poster at the 2008 EURCA awards for the poster: Challenge X: SCR Retrofit for a hybrid application.

EURCA

2008-04-02T22:43:00.000-04:00

Two Tennessee Challenge X subteams presented their work to the annual Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative achievement.
Chance Donahue presented the work from the SCR and emissions testing teams.
Eric Koenn presented the work from the controls team.

Run for Clean Air Recruitment

2008-04-02T16:34:00.000-04:00

Team Tennessee was on hand to help recruit runners at UTK for the Run for Clean Air. RFCA sign up sheets and Challenge X information were on hand. The Revolution X was also brought to the event.

American Institute of Chemical Engineers Presentation

2008-03-13T23:10:00.000-04:00

Tennessee Challenge X Team Leaders, Scott Curran and Sean Peterson gave a 40 Minute presentation on biodiesel production, application and the Challenge X program with a 15 minute tour of the Revolution X to the Knoxville/Oak Ridge Sections of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

UT Parents Association

2008-03-12T17:18:00.001-04:00

Team Leader Scott Curran was a featured speaker at the 2008 UT Parents Association Spring Retreat. The Session was for Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility. Attendees learned about sustainable mobility, biodiesel, hybrids and got to ask questions about the project and topics in biofuels and hybrids.

UT Science Forum

2008-02-28T11:54:00.002-05:00

Team Leader, Scott Curran, gave a 40 minute presentation at the weekly Science Forum on Feb 28th. The presentation was prepared for a technical audience and had a in depth discussion about biodiesel use, diesel exhaust aftertreatments and hybrid technology. The focus of the talk was on sustainable mobility and what how the goals of Challenge X are those of moving to towards sustainable mobility.

NBB Biodiesel Conference

2008-02-06T11:46:00.003-05:00

Team Leader, Scott Curran, helped outed with the Clean Cities booth at the 2008 National Biodiesel Board Conference in Orlando Florida on Feb 4-5 this year. Scott presented a poster at the Sustainable Biodiesel Summit on biodiesel production and stayed for the NBB conference to show off the Challenge X program at the Clean Cities booth.

Focus the Nation Expert Panel

2008-01-31T11:19:00.003-05:00

Tennessee Challenge X faculty advisor, Dr. Butch Irick, was part of an expert panel for the Focus the Nation event on January 31 2008. Over 1,900 universities participated in the event. Our faculty advisor, Dr. Irick, was invited to be on an expert panel session to talk about sustainable mobility and Challenge X.

Focus the Nation Table

2008-01-31T10:00:00.007-05:00

As part of the Focus the Nation teach-in, students from the team had a table with information about thier work with Challenge X and how they have implemented hybrid technology and biodiesel use into the same vehicle.

Pigeon Forge High School Presentation

2007-12-10T10:54:00.000-05:00

On December 10th a large group of students from Ms. Casandra Sharp's Pigeon Forge High School classes took a field trip to UTK for a presentation on biodiesel use and the Challenge X project. Team Leaders Sean Peterson and Scott Curran gave a detailed presentation on what biodiesel is and a demonstration on how it is made. The students then learned how biodiesel is used in the Revolution X to reduce well to wheel green house gas emissions.

Vehicle Ships out to California

2007-11-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

The Revolution X shipped out to California for the first stage of the fourth and final year of Challenge X. The teams will participate in a road rally from Los Angeles to Anaheim ending in a showcase at the 23rd annual Electric Vehicle symposium. Teams will get special tours at the General Motors Advanced Technology Center in Torrance, CA as well as other opportunities for outreach and education.

Freedom CAR Tour at the NTRC

2007-11-14T20:10:00.000-05:00

The team was invited to be part of the FreedomCAR tour at the National Transportation Research Center. The tour was for the DOE-FreedomCAR Vehicle Systems Analysis Tech Team.

FreedomCAR Site

College of Engineering Alumni Picnic

2007-11-04T11:06:00.000-05:00

NOV3. Team Tennessee brought the Revolution X to the homecoming picnic for UT College of Engineering Alumni. There were a few hundred people at the picnic. The team met a lot of intersted people and fielded some great questions.

2007-11-04T11:04:00.000-05:00

NOV 2. Team Tennessee was awarded a $2500 outreach grant from Challenge X for a well prepared Marketing Report! The marketing report was put together by the Outreach Subcommittee team. The grant will help the team purchase outreach materials.

Homecoming

2007-11-04T10:58:00.000-05:00

NOV2. The Tennessee biodiesel hybrid Equinox was part of the UT Homecoming parade at the University of Tennessee. Team members rode in the parade that stretched across campus and ended at Neyland Stadium.

Day of Science

2007-11-04T10:46:00.000-05:00

Team Tennessee and Rose-Hulman were showcased at the Department of Energy's Day of Science. 1700 Students from across North America came to the DOE exhibition for careers and graduate school in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Team Tennessee and Rose-Hulman both had a booth in the main exhibition hall and a display with the vehicles outside the Knoxville Convention Center.

UT Students announce plans for final year of Challenge X

2007-11-04T10:32:00.001-05:00

Team Tennessee held a press conference at the annual Engineer's Day celebration at the University of Tennessee to announce the fourth and final year of the sustainable vehicle competition, Challenge X.

Invited speakers included College of Engineering Dean, Dr. Way Kao, Associate Dean for Research and Technology, Dr. Wyane Davis and Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, Dr. William Hamel.

The response from the local press was great.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/oct/19/get-your-hybridized-motor-running/

Get a tour of UT's new biodiesel-electric hybrid and see how it drives

Challenge X aims for a greener, more efficient automobile