Montgomery County Community College engineering students are putting the finishing touches on an energy-efficient concept car they’ve built from scratch.

Now the students are about to take it for a spin in an upcoming international competition.

Twenty students working on project INNOVA — a hydrogen fuel cell-powered urban concept vehicle — are headed to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway April 12–16.

They will test their design on an infield track during the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas 2023 regional competition.

The MCCC Mustangs are taking what they’ve learned in engineering classrooms and are applying it to a real-world test case. They’ll face teams from around the world who have been tasked with building a car that can try to answer the question, How can we travel using as little energy as possible?

Designing the Car

The students’ vehicle, called INNOVA 3.0, looks very similar to a go-kart and is projected to weigh 210 pounds by the start of the competition.

The team used lighter materials to build the vehicle to help bring down its weight. Theoretically, the 210-pound machine carrying one passenger at 16 miles per hour should perform at an equivalent fuel efficiency distance of 400 miles to the gallon.

“The fall of 2018 was the last time we drove INNOVA 2.0, and we disassembled it,” said engineering professor and team lead William Brownlowe. “The fall of 2019, we started building this car. Of course, we only got one semester in before the school was closed, and we were off campus for a year and a half. We resumed in the fall of 2022. So, we’ve been working on this one for probably three semesters.”

Ready to Win

The team is confident in its chances in the competition.

Several students on the team are first-year enrollees, including primary driver Sabrina Turner, 19, from Lansdale. The Mechanical Engineering major is a 2022 North Penn High School graduate.

“Basically, everything that’s wired up in the front I soldered by hand,” she said.

She described the experience of driving, saying, “It’s very windy, since we don’t have the body on right now, and it’s kind of shaky. But it’s basically like driving a go-kart once you get used to it. It’s awesome. It’s so fun.”

Experiential Learning

Nathan Mayer, 19, from Souderton — a Mechanical Engineering major and Souderton Area High School graduate — was a fabrication and conceptual specialist on the build, a role he happily filled.

“Watching my hard work, everybody’s work come together to make this product that actually works, it’s just amazing to me,” he said.

Joe DeFazio — a North Penn High School graduate from Hatfield — and Paul Jacobs, originally from Boyertown and now living in Norristown, who went to online high school — are excited to be on the project, too.

“I think it’s great,” said DeFazio. “I think it’s a good opportunity for all of us as students to do more than we would just do in class. I’ve certainly learned a lot of valuable stuff from this program.”

“It’s awesome,” said Jacobs. “The friends I’ve made … If I were just going to class, it never would have been like how it is now. We’re friends here, and we’re learning a ton of stuff.”

Franzine Bagalawis — originally from the Philippines, and who grew up in Guam before moving to Pennsburg — said she was never really into cars but joined the team because she likes the fabrication process.

“I think it’s a good opportunity to really get to know the workforce,” she said. “Back home in Guam, there was no engineering. That’s why I came here to school. I think it’s great that a community college has this type of project.”

Read more about the Engineering program on Montgomery County Community College’s website.

Montgomery County Community College Student Engineering Association.