Field Trip to Pennsylvania Transportation Institute  (POSTPONED)

Status

This field trip has been arranged with the staff of the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, but has been postponed because the crash test was rescheduled.

Date

Originally scheduled for Monday, March 13, 2006.
We hope to reschedule the event for sometime in the Fall of 2006.

Original Itinerary

Hybric Electric Vehicle Lab

One or more graduate students in Engineering will provide our group with a guided tour of Penn State's HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) lab. Penn State is one of many universities that are developing and testing new hybrid vehicle designs as part of the Challenge X project (www.challengex.org) funded by General Motors, the US Department of Energy, and other industry leaders.

Crash Testing

Students will be able to observe, from a safe distance, a large diesel truck crashing into a barrier that is designed to thwart terrorist truck bomb attacks. The purpose of the experiment is to test the effectiveness of a particular barrier's design. Numerous tests of this type have been conducted in recent months, as the barrier designers seek to improve their designs.

Other Engineering Lab Tours

Our liaison at PTI is currently working to arrange one or more additional engineering lab tours for this date.

Preparations

Students will need to pack a lunch. Students will also need to obtain written permission from a parent to observe the crash test. A permission form will be provided by PTI for this purpose.

Restrictions

Cameras will be permitted in most areas, but the use of cameras may be restricted in the crash test area.

Rain Date

In the event of rain or other inclement weather, the diesel truck crash test will be conducted the following day, on March 14. In this case we would consider postponing the field trip for one day, so that we could observe the crash test.