Winners in the Best Overall category, "Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV)" Vehicle.
April 28, 2006
The 2006 Engineering Excellence Award winner is a team of students from the Department of Technology who presented the design of a Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV). The team consisted of Technology students: Chad Conley, John Harkness, Luke Ivaska, and Charles Matthews. The team was inspired by Dr. Otieno (who was born in Kenya) to provide third world countries with transportation and tools that would help facilitate commerce. The BUV would also be used for transporting critical medical supplies which would also have an impact on the health and well being of the peoples of these countries. Standard vehicles are too expensive in these areas of the world and are not designed for the off-road/non-paved road transportation systems typically encountered.
The NIU Society of Manufacturing Engineers had a team working on this concept for years under the direction of Dr. Otieno. Last semester, Chad Conley, John Harkness, Luke Ivaska, and Charles Matthews took over the project. The new team’s hard work earned the award winners a spot in a vehicle competition in Indianapolis this Spring where the BUV was tested in water crossings, embankment climbs, and other extreme terrain challenges.
“The team was very passionate about the project and the difference it can make in peoples lives around the world,” said Jeffery C. Camplin, current President of the Engineering & Technology Alumni Society, “The team was very focused on taking over a stagnant project within the College and willing to successfully carry on where previous efforts left off.”
ETAS would like to thank the following alumni and friends who dedicated a weekend to judge the entries: Bill Rocholl, Erik Ferry, Don Bezek, Jr., Don Bezek, Sr., Shumin Zhang, Ravi Yenduri, Kent Foster, Kristen Hallerud, Randy Stine, John McCuistion, and Aimee Davis.