Student Participation, Faculty Involvement, and Costs in the NGV Challenge — A Large‐Scale Automotive Design Project

Large‐scale automotive design projects offer an outstanding opportunity for students to obtain practical experience in engineering design. This paper reports a survey of faculty advisors for student teams participating in the Natural Gas Vehicle Challenge. About fifteen students were typically involved in the project at each university participating in the competition. Five or six were typically “key” to the project. Usually faculty advisors had a research interest in automotive engineering or alternate fuels, and they often incorporated the project into a design course. Although the funding level for such a design project varied substantially, the typical funding level was about $25,000, most of which came from local sponsors. Faculty advisors often commented on the educational value of the project and their satisfaction in working closely with students. 1994 American Society for Engineering Education