NHMS To Host World’s Top Engineering Students For 13th Formula Hybrid Competition

(Press release from New Hampshire Motor Speedway)

The world’s top engineering students will design and build earth-friendly cars as part of the 13th Formula Hybrid Competition, April 29 – May 2.

LOUDON, N.H. – Hundreds of the world’s top engineering students are expected to arrive at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for Dartmouth’s one-of-a-kind 13^th annual Formula Hybrid Competition, April 29 – May 2 ready to put the earth-friendly hybrid and electric vehicles they designed and built over the last 10 months to the test.

This year’s 20 teams hail from Canada, India and across the U.S. Their eight hybrid and 12 electric vehicles will need to pass numerous technical and safety inspections in order to make it on to “The Magic Mile.”

Many top engineering students engage in this technical competition because they want to collaborate with a team to build something highly complex and important not only to them but to the future of the world. Another perk of the competition is the chance to be scouted for an engineering job by top car manufacturers from across the country, including Toyota, the official car and truck of New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“Participating in Formula Hybrid specifically is like a vote for a more sustainable future,” said Annika Garbers, chief mechanical engineer for the all-female Rochester Institute of Technology team Hot Wheelz. “When we design our car to perform well with sustainability in mind, it’s 1) educating the next generation of engineers to be prepared to work on hybrid and electric technology in the automotive industry and 2) proving that electric and hybrid vehicles can perform as well as and better than traditional IC [internal combustion] cars.”

Similar to the Formula SAE® competition, students compete in aspects of design, acceleration, handling and endurance of their vehicle while abiding by rules that minimize risk and preserve students’ freedom to innovate. At Formula Hybrid, they also have to optimize energy efficiency and incorporate sustainable materials when building their vehicles.

“We are the only hybrid competition of its kind,” said Douglas Fraser, founder of Formula Hybrid and senior research engineer and laboratory instructor at Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth, which runs the event. “There are competitions that look a lot like ours, but those vehicles are gasoline powered or powered entirely by electricity. We are the only competition that combines the two, with a gasoline engine on one side and electric power on the other. Blending the output can be done any number of ways. Students have to work together and decide which system gets to do what. It’s pretty tricky.”

As a result, Formula Hybrid is the only competition that requires a unique collaboration between mechanical engineers, electrical engineers and computer scientists in the planning and building of their cars.

For outside spectators, Wednesday, May 1 is the “most fun-filled” day to visit, according to Jessica Kinzie, the competition’s coordinating manager. The autocross and acceleration events run from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It’s also Formula Hybrid School Day for middle and high school students who enjoy guided tours with volunteers from the SCCA New England Section and other knowledgeable experts. For more information and a complete schedule, please visit the competition website.

Teams Competing