With a shiny new truck engine and some cash from the state, a
group of University of Nebraska-Lincoln engineering students will end up with more than
just greasy hands. Thanks to a national competition encouraging ethanol gasoline use, they have the chance to put improving the environment and boosting the state economy on their résumés. During a press conference Monday, Gov. Ben Nelson recognized the UNL team that will convert the engine of a 1999 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck to run on 85 percent ethanol fuel as part of the 1999 National Ethanol Vehicle Challenge. Nelson said the program, which is supported by state and private funding, was important for growing Nebraska's ethanol industry, which converts corn fewer toxins into into fuel for automobile engines that in turn emit the atmosphere. The team, led by Bill Weins, UNL associate professor of mechanical engineering, will show off its converted ethanol engine at the second-ever competition sponsored nationally by General Motors Corp. and the U.S. Department of Energy. Weins said the student volunteers can receive credit for working on the engine, but the biggest advantages are the professional experience and job connections. He said General Motors uses the competition for recruiting engineering students, and some past UNL team members have already begun working for the automotive giant.
Last year, the students converted the engine of a 1998 Chevrolet Malibu and competed with 13 other teams at the manufacturer's testing grounds in Detroit. Scott Peterson, 1998 team captain and a graduate student in mechanical engineering, said last year's team made some mistakes because it was the first year of the competition.
Though the team did not win, Peterson said, it won an award for best teamwork after its car engine failed and had to be replaced overnight. The teams this year, including UNL's 30-member group, will focus on making pickup engines more fuel efficient without sacrificing performance or consumer appeal. Nelson said the increased popularity of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, which are not typically fuel-efficient, enhances the need for better, more efficient engines.
He said the ethanol industry has been important to the growth of national and international trade in Nebraska.
Weins and Peterson both said this year's team is excited and prepared to win by building on the knowledge it acquired last year. "We're coming to play hard," Peterson said.