UT engineering students uphold the standard of excellence once again in

this year’s international Propane Vehicle Challenge in Austin, Texas. Since

1989, UT has won three alternative fuel vehicle competitions and finished

among the top four teams in these contests nine times out of ten.

Dr. Jeff Hodgson, a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor, said

that a nine-member student engineering team took third place overall in the

latest competition.

Hodgson, faculty advisor for the teams, said it was a very close race for

the top three teams. UT was less than forty points away from winning first

place and missed second place by a mere five points out of 920 possible

points. There was almost a 100 point difference between UT and the forth

place team.

UT’s Dodge Dakota pickup truck, modified by students to run on propane,

received the highest scores for both fuel economy and handling. Hodgson

stated that the truck would be as safe to drive, if not safer, than the

gas-fueled version. He also said the vehicle has the potential to drive at

speeds equal to that of the original.

Vehicles from 17 schools across the nation were judged in 12 categories

including: emissions, fuel economy and acceleration. More than 300

engineering students from Canada, Puerto Rico and the United States

participated in the annual competition.

The University of Waterloo, in Ontario, took the first place prize this

year while Texas A&M came in second.

The event was sponsored by Chrysler, the U.S. Department of Energy, the

Railroad Commission of Texas, Texas Energy Conservation Office, Southwest

Research Institute, Natural Resources Canada and Sea World of Texas.