The Human-Powered Vehicle Team from the University of Missouri-Rolla is relying on regular engine power to get back to Rolla, after finishing second in the 2006 West Coast HPV Challenge April 28-30 at California Polytechnical Institute in San Luis Obispo.

Human-power: activate! Whitney Joseph prepares for an HPV race

The vehicles are actually recumbent bikes with aerodynamic shells. During competitions, which are generally sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, teams are judged in the following areas: sprints, endurance tests, design reports and oral presentations. A team from California State-Chico won the overall title in San Luis Obispo.

The UMR team will now turn its attention to defending its championship in the East Coast Challenge May 5-7 at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. In fact, UMR will be trying to win its fifth straight East Coast championship.

“Our reputation gives us confidence, but it also adds pressure,” says Whitney Joseph, one of the UMR team members who supplies human power as a rider.

Members of the 2006 UMR Human-Powered Vehicle Team are:

– Todd Acinelli, a senior in computer engineering from St. Louis

– M. Elliot Atwell, a junior in aerospace engineering from Kansas City, Mo.

– Jerrod Bouchard, a senior in mechanical engineering from Camdenton, Mo.

– Craig George, a sophomore in electrical engineering from St. Joseph, Mo.

– Tom Hill, a freshman in mechanical engineering from St. Louis

– Whitney Joseph, a sophomore in engineering management from O’Fallon, Ill.

– Julie Orlich, a senior in architectural engineering from Kansas City, Mo.

– Kyle Rackers, a sophomore in mechanical engineering from Jefferson City, Mo.

– Andrew Rucker, a senior in civil engineering from Springfield, Mo.

– Eric Sommer, a sophomore in aerospace engineering from O’Fallon, Mo.

– Andrew Sourk, a sophomore in aerospace engineering from St. Joseph, Mo.

– David Weese, a sophomore in mechanical engineering from Maryville, Mo.

Related Links

More from the West Coast