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The MathWorks today announced that Ohio State University is the recipient of The MathWorks Crossover to Model-Based Design Award at Challenge X, the three-year student engineering competition sponsored by General Motors Corporation (GM) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In this second year of the competition, the Ohio State University student team received the award for their achievement in applying Model-Based Design using MATLAB® and Simulink® to integrate advanced powertrains and subsystems into a Chevrolet Equinox. Year two of the competition concludes this week at GM's Desert Proving Ground in Mesa, Arizona.

The second year of Challenge X began with each student team receiving a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox, a crossover vehicle which already provides competitive fuel economy. The students spent year two integrating the advanced powertrains and subsystems that they modeled during year one of the competition into the vehicle. During year three of the competition, the students will continue to refine their design changes into the Equinox to optimize the vehicle's utility, reduce energy consumption, and decrease emissions.

"Model-Based Design represents the future of the automotive industry," said Professor Giorgio Rizzoni, faculty advisor of the Ohio State University team. "It can reduce a company's product development cycle and deliver a high quality product result. The Ohio State team made a concerted effort to implement Model-Based Design at every step of the competition. The MathWorks tools allowed Ohio State to produce the most advanced control strategy in record time."

The following university teams are competing in the 2004-2007 Challenge-X competition:

Michigan Technological University Mississippi State University Ohio State University Pennsylvania State University Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology San Diego State University Texas Tech University University of Akron University of California, Davis

University of Michigan University of Tennessee University of Texas at Austin University of Tulsa University of Waterloo University of Wisconsin-Madison Virginia Tech West Virginia University

"The Challenge X students' engineering education experience shifts to reality with this year's goal," said Cleve Moler, chief scientist at The MathWorks and creator of MATLAB. "After designing and testing their vehicle systems using MATLAB and Simulink, teams have the opportunity to make the vehicle actually perform on the track. Proof of their success exists in each part of the process. We are happy that The MathWorks tools can play a significant role in supporting the students with this transition: learning the core engineering principles they will need and gaining first-hand appreciation of Model-Based Design in the automotive industry setting."