Dartmouth's Formula Hybrid Competition held annually at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway offers "an interdisciplinary design and engineering challenge for undergraduate and graduate university students.” The competition is part of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Collegiate Design Series and is regarded as the most complex and dynamic of the series.

"Our safety standards are strict and this year the educational value for students was especially high as more teams than usual faced unexpected complications and had to really pull together to problem-solve on the spot," said Competition Organizer Doug Fraser and, as he told WMUR-TV, "This requires design work. There are no off-the-shelf solutions to building a hybrid vehicle."

This year's winner of the Hybrid Category: University of Idaho's Vandal Hybrid Racing Team.

"The inspections are rigorous and the inspectors educate the teams extensively which is incredibly valuable," said John Collier, Dartmouth's Myron Tribus Professor of Engineering Innovation and a faculty advisor to the Dartmouth Formula Racing team.

"I'm a fifth year senior and I've been working in the field for 3 years and I've learned more on this car than those 2 combined. It's a wonderful, wonderful experience," said Adam Tallman from Lawrence Technological University whose team placed second in the hybrid category.

As usual, students willing to take on the Formula Hybrid challenge are of interest to recruiters from the Competition’s corporate sponsors including General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.

"It's a good chance to see the students in action working on their hybrid vehicles to get to pick out strong leaders and talent for the future," said Jeffery Brandon from Chrysler.

Added Collier, "The amount of learning through feedback at the electrical and mechanical technical inspections—carried out by experts, many from the big automobile companies—the interaction with the review boards at the design competition and the collaboration between groups discussing technical approaches was extraordinary."

Members of the 2014 Dartmouth Formula Racing team.

This year's Competition had 15 hybrid car teams and 7 electric-only cars.

Hybrid Results

1. University of Idaho (261.70)
2. Lawrence Technological University (253.63)
3. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (251.35)

Electric-only Results

1. Dartmouth (513.88)
2. University of Vermont (451.34)
3. Carnegie Mellon University (288.72)

Awards

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) Motorsports preps for one of the dynamic events.

Chrysler Innovation Award

...for innovative electrification design and implementation:

1. University of Idaho ($2,000)
2. Embry-Riddle ($1,000)
3. University of Akron ($500)

General Motors Best-Engineered Hybrid Award

1. University of Idaho ($2,500)
2. Embry-Riddle ($1,500)
3. University of Waterloo ($1,000)

IEEE Engineering the Future Award and Excellence in EV Engineering Award

• University of Vermont (for multidisciplinary makeup of the team and evidence that the vehicle design contained all of the features of a proper racecar)
• Carnegie Mellon University (for excellence in the entire EV engineering process)

Formula Hybrid special guest Skip Barber chats with one of the competitors.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway Fan Favorite Award

• Team Chimera (Nitte Meenakshi and RV College) $500

Skip Barber Teamwork Award

• McMaster University (for displaying the best overall collaborative teamwork skills)