6/13/2016 Bill Bowman
From left: Mike Philpott, Howard Chan, Varun Punjabi, Shie-Jene Shan, Dinaz Bamji, Raymond Phillips, Cian Conlan-Smith, and Bruce Flachsbart.
Written by Bill Bowman
From left: Mike Philpott, Howard Chan, Varun Punjabi, Shie-Jene Shan, Dinaz Bamji, Raymond Phillips, Cian Conlan-Smith, and Bruce Flachsbart.
The Eco-Illini team set a new University of Illinois school record this weekend, reaching an incredible 1,137 miles per gallon with its 2016 vehicle.
Surpassing the old record of 1,079 mpg, the team was competing at the SAE Supermileage competition at the Eaton Proving Grounds in Michigan. The Eco-Illini finished fourth overall.
“Professor Mike Philpott and I are very proud of the hard work and dedication displayed by this year’s team,” said Dr. Bruce Flachsbart, the Director of the Engineering Student Projects Laboratory. “Notables were the near perfect driving by Dinaz Bamji on the final run, Howard Chan taking an emergency vacation day from Ford to drive two hours to help diagnose engine anomalies, and of course none of this would have been possible without the pertinacious and always positive leader of the group, Shie-Jene Shan!
“It was an event for which the whole team will forever be proud—a new UIUC record.”
SAE International is a global association of more than128,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries.