The Daily Collegian Science U campers take a look at Penn State’s award winning EcoCAR Campers learn from EcoCAR By Zach Geiger COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Science U campers witnessed a hands on demonstration of Penn State's EcoCAR Thursday morning as part of the Advance Vehicle Team's participation in the EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge con test. The event held at the Hybrid and Hydrogen Vehicle Research Laboratory of the Larson Institute showcased the hybrid vehicle to the visiting high school students. Thursday's demonstration was benefi cial in showing the students the future of hybrid vehicle technology, said Mike Casper, a Penn State engineering profes sor. "It's nice to convey to students inter ested in science at this level. ‘Here is an application you can see and understand and see some exciting results.' " Casper said. About 20 to 30 Science U campers - all current high school students were in attendance. Casper said. In addition to building a working vein cle. outreach is a vital part of the compe tition. EcoCAR Outreach Coordinator Allison Lillv said. Penn State placed third in the EcoCAR competition in May and also won other awards for different aspects of the proj ect. Lilly (junior-public relationsi said. For next year's competition, the team is able to use events like Thursday's Science U Camp demonstration as evi dence of their outreach involvement. Casper said. But the real benefit is seeing the kids learn about the vehicle and the different real-world possibilities available to them in college, Lilly said. ’The best part was just hearing how wmmM arder from ™i mm mi @ PSUCOLLEGIAN.COM much these high school students were asking us questions about what we're so passionate about,'' Lilly said. "They were extremely interested in the program." The EcoCAR competition is a multi year event that challenges 16 universities including Penn State, the Ohio State University, and Virginia Tech to build a hybrid extended range electric vehicle (EREV) that can also run on 820 biodiesel fuel. Penn State's EcoCAR team designed a hybrid front-wheel drive vehicle that runs off of an electric motor, Ben Koch said. Koch (graduate-engineering science), a member of the EcoCAR drive train group, said the students were surprised how the car ran silently when using the batteries that power the electric motor. When battery power runs low. a biodiesel motor is engaged which charges the batteries, Koch said. Penn State placed third overall in the second round of the competition in May but the team is already preparing for the third round next year by making improvements to the vehicle. Koch said. "We weren't getting as much power as we d like," Koch said. The team which includes electrical engineers, business and public relations majors also receives help from General Motors (GM) in the form of mon etary and technical support. Koch said. GM and the Department of Energy sponsor the EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge competition. Casper said: This year the team's goal is to finally advance beyond third place in the compe tition, Casper said. "Not only do we want to beat Ohio State, but we want to do the best we can.” he said. To e-mail reporter: zjgsol2@psu.edu Dining Guide eLion site to revamp page’s content, look By Mike Hricik FOR THE COLLEGIAN Students can expect several improve ments to eLion this fall semester. eLion Penn State’s online academic and financial documenting system will see changes including the provision of advanced scheduling search capabilities and more access for parent accounts, sen ior associate registrar Karen Duncan said Students who are scheduling courses will be able to search within eLion based upon the name of an instructor or number of course credits. These criteria options will be listed on the main scheduling page and can be expanded or contracted, university registrar Karen Schultz said. On the results page, links will also be added to course information so students can find an instructor's e-mai! and office Cross-listed courses will link to each other and classroom buildings will link to Google Maps, Schultz said. “We've been working on this for a while.' Schultz said. “It took a long time to work with the students to get the final design ' Parents will now have the option of view ing their child's grades and schedule on their eLion accounts with the student's per mission, Schultz said. Some students said the enhancements for parent accounts should be kept optional. “If the parents are paying for their child's Stop by The Daily Collegian’s table in the HUB-Robeson Student Union Center Fri, Aug. 20 or Sat, Aug. 21 for a FREE Nalgene bottle from Brita along with a copy of FALL 101 Collegian Magazine! e n\e«to e ’'^'Ln «« w Collegian BRITA education, they should have every right to see the schedule and grades,” James Michael (freshman-business administra tion; said. "However, if the student’s paying or an agreement's worked out with the par ents to retain privacy, then that works too.” Dave Alexander (freshman-engineering) agreed with Michael. "1 don't see why Penn State students shouldn't have that option,” Alexander said. Alexander said his grades would be up to par with his parents' standards regardless of whether eLion allows them access. Even with the changes, some students still have concerns about parts of eLion's procedures. James C icero (senior-rehabilitation and human services) said setting the semester scheduling dates at midnight might not be prime, but that priority given to upperclass men is an advantage. Schultz said the idea for increased parent access came from a meeting with the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG) a few years ago. Schulz said students were very closely involved with the Web site’s redesign process. Student locus groups were used and usability studies were conducted by Information Technology Services, Schultz said. Tiie registrar's office is targeting a release of the new features in late August or early September, Schultz said. W*' £3 r r~i n r' n t > ■■ ; : \ % \ \i ! I H'J \ 'O-^i -j r"' f i \ ,Vn \\ \\ \X >_Js uJ v Friday, Aug. 6, 2010 I ms ©SMI Order Food @ powered by StateCollege.com w t! A'fr
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