TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.—Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies GmbH & Co. will host two Concordia University students and their award winning SAE Supermileage vehicle at this year's Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Aug. 4-7.
The seminars will take place at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa.
Freudenberg-NOK was a gold sponsor of the SAE Supermileage competition, held June 5-6 at the Eaton Corp. Marshall Proving Grounds in Marshall, Mich. In addition to sponsoring the event, Freudenberg-NOK provided custom designed Energy Saving Seals for the crankshaft in the vehicle's engine and made them available to all 29 participating teams.
The firm said its ESS line reduces friction by 57 percent. The top performing team that used the seals was offered a trip for two to this year's CAR Management Briefing Seminars.
Concordia's team took Freudenberg-NOK up on the offer and achieved an average of 383 miles per gallon on five runs with the seals, earning it the 35th annual SAE Endurance Award, which was reserved for the team that completed at least five runs with the highest average fuel economy.
“The work we do to increase efficiency of Supermileage vehicles can be applied on a larger scale,” said Haqeem Sapuan, the team's engine lead. “It involves reducing friction, reducing redundancies such as coasting with the engine idling and optimizing the fuel efficiency of the engine.”
Sapuan and Alexandre Laroche, both mechanical engineering students, will participate in the CAR Management Briefing Seminars student program, which includes access to all sessions, roundtables with industry executives and networking opportunities. Concordia's vehicle also will be on display at the event.
“Our Supermileage prototype is covered in corporate sponsor logos to show our appreciation of their support,” Laroche said. “Corporate sponsors like Freudenberg provide the resources we need to make our outside-of-the-box ideas a reality.”
Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies is the Americas joint venture between Freudenberg and Co. in Germany and NOK Corp. in Japan. It is a producer of sealing technologies for the aerospace, agriculture, appliance, automotive, construction and many other industries. It operates more than 20 facilities across the Americas and is headquartered in Plymouth, Mich.