A team of students from the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology participated in the 34th running of the Society of Automotive Engineer’s (SAE) Supermileage event on June 6 and 7 in Marshall, Mich.
The NIU team took home $900 after finishing in third place, just behind Penn State University’s Behrend College and runner-up Brigham Young University.
Providing an opportunity to get hands-on experience, the Supermileage competition challenges students to research, design and build a single-person, fuel- efficient vehicle powered by a one-cylinder, four-cycle engine. The vehicles run on a 9.6-mile course, and the team with the highest mpg rating, coupled with best design, is declared the winner.
Related: Student research: Zach Griffith steers NIU SAE Supermileage chassis design project