Lane Department faculty member Dr. Roy Nutter and students attend 9th Annual Power of DC convention

Click for additional photos!
Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering faculty member Dr. Roy Nutter accompanied by a group of current and former WVU students attended the 9th Annual Power of DC convention held from August 29-30 and hosted by the Electric Vehicle Association of Washington DC. Among the students attending the convention were former students Danny Emery and Brent Freeman, as well as current EE MS student Michael Spencer, current EE undergraduate student John Tavolacci as well as current CS PhD student Sean (Sanjib) Banerjee.

The Power of DC convention is an annual gathering of electric and hybrid vehicle owners and enthusiasts in Hagerstown, MD. The events are comprised of an SCCA autocross and National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) drag race as well as a speaker program with discussions pertaining to the current issues in electric and hybrid vehicles. Guest speakers this year included Jon Lilley and Nat Pearre from University of Delaware discussing the Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Project as well as Robb Protheroe from Plug-In Supply (http://www.pluginsupply.com/) discussing and demonstrating a wide range of products.

Dr. Nutter accompanied by his student team displayed and competed in the #6 WVU Formula Lightning race car. The Formula Lightning series began in 1994 featuring 15 vehicles built and raced by engineering schools from across the nation. Each vehicle shared the same body design, suspension, wheels, tires and brakes. Each university team then chose their own batteries, controller, motor and gearbox. This enabled the innovations to be focused on the design of electric drives. Alumni members of the WVU Formula Lightning team have gone on to work for MAGLEV, Texas Instruments, Cummins, Delphi, NASA, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Honda, and many other major corporations.

With the Formula Lightning series ceasing competition in the early 2000s, the WVU Formula Lightning team has shifted focus on creating the next generation electric formula car without being limited by any rule set. Today's team is now focused on creating innovative ways to optimize the performance of the electric motor by the installation of a new gearbox to replace the older Hewland unit, reducing weight - the team has shed 600 lbs from the vehicle in the last year -- as well as looking into the future with battery and controller technology.

The team performed flawlessly in both the autocross and drag racing portions. The team spent time discussing and sharing valuable information regarding electric vehicles and their design with the fellow competitors, members of the Electric Vehicle Association of DC, and the general public.

To learn more please visit:

WVU Formula Lightning: http://www.csee.wvu.edu/~formula/
Power of DC - http://www.powerofdc.com
Electric Vehicle Association of Washington DC - http://www.evadc.org/
National Electric Drag Racing Association - http://www.nedra.com/

08/31/2009