• Share
  • Share this item

    Send this to a friend

  • Grab the link

    Copy and paste the link:

  • Blog about it

    Blog about this page.

  • Close
• Comment
• Facebook
• Digg
• Delicious
• Print

A 1974 Volkswagon Beetle could be the key to developing a modern hybrid vehicle. Students enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Project class used a VW Beetle to develop a sustainable car as part of a project called “EcoHawks.”

Christopher Depcik, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, said he introduced the project to teach students practical skills that could be beneficial to society and help students find jobs.

The project started with recycling an old vehicle, which was the most energy-efficient way to create a new vehicle.

“I wanted students to have something that was iconic,” Depcik said. “Then I thought about the VW Bug.”

Lou McKown, Downingtown, Pa., senior, is among the 11 seniors doing research and building the vehicle for EcoHawks. He said the project aimed to design a more efficient car. The innovative aspect of the project is the design and adoption of interchangeable engines, he said. The design allows the vehicle to use many different kinds of fuel, such as gasoline, biodiesel and ethanol.

“The developments that we make during our project really benefit not just KU, the entire community,” McKown said. “No vehicle like this is really available in the common marketplace.”

Matt LeGresley, Lawrence senior and member of EcoHawks, said such a vehicle would help the global energy sector become more local, which is an important aspect of sustainability. The EcoHawks use biodiesel that was produced in a chemical engineering laboratory on campus.

“What this allows us to do is use fuels that are produced locally from crops or feedstocks,” LeGresley said.

Depcik said he planned to continue the project after this academic year. The project focused on the use of biodiesel and ethanol this year to develop the methodology for building hybrid vehicles. He said the project would choose a different primary fuel source every year, looking at the trend of the time to teach more practical skills.

Photo Gallery

EcoHawks

The EcoHawks project encourages engineering students to build a hybrid car.

“The idea is that as we move forward throughout time, students are working on the status of technology,” Depcik said. “We’re doing something that is completely applicable to which way the economy goes, which way society goes.”

McKown said the EcoHawks team faced technological and funding challenges. The KU Transportation Research Institute donated $10,000, but the team needs more funding to continue the project for the next few years, McKown said.

McKown said the team would showcase the project during the University’s Homecoming festivities.

— — Edited by Becka Cremer

• Share
  • Share this item

    Send this to a friend

  • Grab the link

    Copy and paste the link:

  • Blog about it

    Blog about this page.

  • Close
• Comment
• Facebook
• Digg
• Delicious
• Print