As a prospective engineering major and an incoming freshman this past fall, I was eager to involve myself in projects and clubs. One club that immediately stood out to me was the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Team. After an easy interview process, I joined the team. Essentially, the team designs and builds a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle as a prototype vehicle at the United States Shell Eco-Marathon. As I was only a freshman, I spent the majority of my first year doing miscellaneous tasks for the team. However, my big role on the team was being the driver for the vehicle! I am quite small in stature; I was able to fit and not add much weight to the vehicle. In fact, I was underweight for the competition’s requirements, so we had to add weights to the vehicle.
The actual competition took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for around 5 days. If you are familiar with the Indy 500, the competition took place, albeit with modifications for the Eco-Marathon competition, on the same track. Just arriving at the speedway was exciting! If you have ever watched racing online or on TV, the sheer scale of these tracks is only something you can truly comprehend in person. Fun fact: the whole facility is 560 acres.
Throughout our days at the Speedway, each day, we would arrive at the track a little before 8 am, and I would attend a safety briefing each morning. The rest of the day mostly involved working on the vehicle. For the competition, we first had to pass a comprehensive technical inspection to be allowed to drive on the track. This involved driver safety, vehicle dimensions, mechanical design, electrical verification, and brakes. We attempted to pass inspection multiple times, as many other teams did. It is better to go to the inspection earlier than later in competition because you receive feedback from those inspecting your vehicle. Then you can know exactly what your team needs to fix on the vehicle. We passed inspection on the final day of the competition. Overall, I am immensely proud of the team who worked tirelessly to make alterations to our vehicle so we could pass inspection. In addition, this was the first time we competed with this vehicle design, so passing technical inspection was an immense feat. One other event that took place was the track walk. Essentially, I was able to walk the track and take pictures! The collaborative nature of the competition was also amazing to be in, especially with other people from Brazil and other countries.
The team after passing technical inspection.
In terms of driving, it was a somewhat nerve-racking experience. Before getting onto the track, I once again had to do a final inspection where they checked my brakes and other things. Then, I was on the track! One cool thing about driving the car was that I had to wear a full helmet and suit for safety purposes. You can see the outfit in the pictures below. The car, unfortunately, did break down halfway around the track. However, the experience of the competition superseded any disappointment my team or I had. Overall, my team and I were ecstatic that we passed the technical inspection and made it around the track.
Photos of the track and the garages where the teams worked on their vehicles
