Student Competition Focuses on Utility Vehicles for the Physically Disabled

No one needs to wait when it comes to improving the world. Students in the 9th Annual BUV Competition, a capstone/senior design-engineering project for schools in North America, got an early start. These engineering students got real-world experience by designing a three-wheel Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) to be driven by the physically disabled (landmine survivors, amputees and others who do not have use of their legs).

Presented by the Institute for Affordable Transportation (IAT), a not-for-profit public charity located in Indianapolis, students typically spent at least one semester developing the design concept and producing a working prototype vehicle to demonstrate at the competition. Each vehicle was professionally judged based on how closely the teams met the specifications of the challenge, as well as performance, durability, engineering innovation and production budget. The event took place on Sat., April 18, in Zionsville, Ind. Japanese engine manufacturer Yanmar and Tuff Torq, the global drive system manufacturer headquartered in the United States, sponsored the competition nationally.

“Each year we try to address an immediate transportation need in Africa, Central America and other developing countries,” explained Will Austin, for the IAT. “For the 2009 event, the design specs called for a BUV capable of being operated by someone who does not have use of their legs such as an amputee or landmine survivor. We asked each team to build a simple, low-cost, reliable vehicle that could easily be manufactured in a rural setting. In addition, the IAT has incorporated a green initiative into this year’s competition by requiring hybrid drives and renewable biodiesel fuel.”

First Place in the over-all competition was awarded to John Brown University, and First Place in the Open Class was awarded to Calera High School from Alabama. Other schools competing included Purdue University, Northern Illinois University, Trine University, State University of New York — Alfred, University of Cincinnati (two teams), Valparaiso University, University of Missouri — Columbia and Hamblen County Schools (Tennessee).

“Being part of the BUV Competition is a great opportunity for our companies to expose our technology to

these young engineers,” added Frank Freeman, sales and marketing manager for Tuff Torq. “Currently Tuff Torq is expanding more into utility-type vehicles such as the BUV. This competition allows our drive systems and Yanmar engines to be incorporated into new vehicle designs. The students and professors experience the performance and quality of our products first hand.”