Enterprise Blog

Month: July 2022

Built World Enterprise Takes Third Place for the 2021-2022 TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs

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Four students standing for picture
Students pictured left to right: Greg Porcaro, Clark Fadoir, Mary Ollis, and Drew Vega

A Michigan Tech Enterprise Team, Built World Enterprise, earned third place in the 2021-2022 Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs. 

The four-member team from the Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Department placed in the Runway Safety/Runway Incursions/Runway Excursions Including Aprons, Ramps, and Taxiways category. Their design is titled Thermal Detection System for Mitigating Runway Incursions at Non-Towered Airports. The student members of the team are Clark Fadoir, Mary Ollis, Greg Porcaro, and Drew Vega.  Dr. Audra Morse served as faculty adviser.

This year, the prestigious competition encourages students to design innovative solutions to airport challenges. The competition requires students to work with a faculty adviser and reach out to airport operators and industry experts for advice and to assess their proposed solutions. The Virginia Space Grant Consortium of Hampton, Virginia, manages the competition on behalf of the ACRP. Funding for the competition is provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Volunteer panels of airport industry and academic practitioners, as well as FAA representatives, selected the winning submissions from among the proposals submitted by 21 student teams. Winning teams receive $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place, $1,000 for third place, and $500 for honorable mentions.

The names of all winners and copies of designs receiving place awards are available at https://www.trb.org/ACRP/ACRPDesignCompetition.aspx.

New guidelines for the 2022-2023 academic year competition will be available on the competition website by early August 2022.

The Airport Cooperative Research Program is an industry-driven, applied research program that develops near-term, practical solutions to airport challenges. The program is managed by the Transportation Research Board, which is a program unit of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine — private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln. For more information, visit https://national-academies.org.

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Back on Track in 2022: Advanced Motorsport Teams Succeed in SAE International Competitions

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This year, Michigan Tech’s Enterprise vehicle competition teams were “back on track” – literally – as their respective SAE competitions safely returned to in-person events in 2022! The Clean Snowmobile Challenge, Formula SAE, and Supermileage Systems enterprises competed in their annual SAE International competitions. Highlights are as follows:

The 2022 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge was held at the World Championship Derby Complex in Eagle River, Wisconsin. The challenge for university teams participating in this Collegiate Design Series event is to develop cleaner, quieter, comfortable, and cost-effective snowmobiles. Competition sleds are evaluated on acceleration, handling, endurance, noise, emissions, and, yes – cold start capability! In addition, team designs are assessed on technical merits, value-added innovations, marketability, and profitability. This year, Michigan Tech’s Clean Snowmobile Enterprise entered sleds in gasoline (SI) and diesel (CI) categories. Overall, the team placed 8th (out of 12) in SI and 4th (out of 6) in CI. The team also received three awards: Best SI Design, Best SI Value Benefit, and Best CI Value Benefit. Full results and more competition information can be found on the SAE Clean Snowmobile competition website.

Ten people standing around a snowmobile.

Competition held: March 1-3, 2022, World Championship Derby Complex, Eagle River, Wisconsin.

The Formula SAE competition challenges student teams to conceive, design, fabricate, develop, and compete with small, formula-style vehicles. The competitions give teams the chance to demonstrate and prove both their creativity and engineering skills in comparison to teams from other universities The Formula SAE competition challenges student teams to conceive, design, fabricate, develop, and compete with small, formula-style vehicles. The competitions give teams the chance to demonstrate and prove their creativity and engineering skills compared to teams from other universities around the world. This year, Michigan Tech’s Formula SAE team took 57th overall out of 100 teams in their first in-person event since 2019. Notable highlights include 15th place in the Cost Event and 27th place (tie) in the Design Event. An oil line failure ultimately ended the team’s day after just one lap in the Endurance Event…a reminder of the real challenges that can and do happen during competition, and a valuable learning experience. Next year, our team is anxious to compete for the first time in the FSAE Electric Vehicle category! For more information and to dive deeper into the results, please visit the Formula SAE Competition website.

Twenty-one people standing behind a black racing vehicle with a single person sitting inside the vehicle.

Competition held: May 18-21, 2022, Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI.

The engineering design goal of SAE Supermileage is to develop and construct a single-person, fuel-efficient vehicle that complies with the competition rules and is able to obtain the highest combined km/L (mpg) rating while running a specific course. This year, our Supermileage Systems Enterprise took 3rd place overall with a second-best-ever fuel economy of 958 mpg!. This was an impressive feat considering the last two years of virtual events and limited opportunities for vehicle testing. However, the event was bittersweet as this marks the 43rd consecutive and final year as SAE has discontinued the Supermileage competition. Fortunately, Michigan Tech’s Supermileage team will pivot in 2023 and travel to Indianapolis to compete in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas! For more information, please visit the SAE Supermileage competition and Shell Eco-marathon Americas websites.

Eight people standing behind a low-to-the-ground yellow car.

Competition held: June 9-10, 2022, Eaton Proving Grounds, Marshall, MI.

To close the 2022 competition season, we want to send a sincere THANK YOU to all our 2021-22 sponsors of Michigan Tech Advanced Motorsports! Your support makes these experiences possible. Together we are fostering passion and intrinsic motivation, instilling lifelong learning, and preparing Enterprise graduates for early-career success!

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