AVTC

After getting involved as a co-team leader during the Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) Challenge at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in 1991, Mike Duoba realized his life would never be the same.

During his time at IIT, Duoba’s passion for advanced vehicles and hybrid technology grew, and upon completion of his undergraduate degree, he went on to complete his Masters of Science in mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

After graduation, Duoba had the chance of a lifetime: working for Argonne National Laboratory as an Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) organizer.

“I was in charge of writing the rules, facility and vehicle inspections, scoring, and more,” he said.

Duoba was also essential in dynamometer testing during the Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) Challenge.

“When I was an organizer, we were holding four to five different competitions a year,” he said. “We would have up to 40 vehicles doing dynamometer testing at three different locations!”

Working with dynamometer testing for competitions lead him to his current work at Argonne.  As a key founder and now the technical lead for Argonne’s Advanced Powertrain Research Facility (APRF), Duoba contributes to the testing and analysis of advanced propulsion systems using novel instrumentation and state-of-the-art dynamometer test equipment.

It was Duoba’s work with Argonne and APRF that lead Chicago Business to name him one of Chicago’s “Top 40 Under 40” in 2000.

Since then, Duoba’s passion for vehicle emissions testing and advanced technology has translated into many notable activities. In particular, Duoba chaired the task force that revised the important SAE J1711 ‘Recommended Practice for Measuring the Exhaust Emissions and Fuel Economy of Hybrid-Electric Vehicles Including Plug-in Hybrids’ standards and was a key advisor in helping to implement those standards into the emissions testing practices for EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge and EcoCAR 2.

The AVTC program has seen Duoba grow from a co-team leader at IIT during the NGV Challenge to one of the world’s leading experts on hybrid vehicles, but he still finds time to occasionally judge at the AVTC finals.

“I have seen a lot of improvement over the years from students,” he said. “But the biggest is how the engineers have become ambassadors for advanced technology. You can really tell that these students are interested in this field and want to make a difference.”

If you have ever been in Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTCs), you have Bob Larsen to thank.

Bob Larsen is a true pioneer of advanced vehicles. Just look at his resume: From being the former Director of Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory to becoming the Green Racing Program Manager to being a former member of the Board of Directors for SAE International, Larsen has done it all. But it’s his work with the AVTC program that makes him a living legend.

In the late 1980s, Larsen starting thinking about ways of getting non-petroleum fueled vehicles on the road and how to accelerate the acceptance of advanced vehicles in the public.  Larsen and Phil Patterson of the U.S. Department of Energy wanted to partner with SAE on a new type of student competition that involved re-engineering production vehicles with using renewable fuels. That simple idea has turned into the 23-year history of AVTCs.

“We had to think outside of the box,” said Larsen. “We wanted to motivate younger engineers and provide learning opportunities.”

During the first competition, Methanol Marathon, Larsen saw the spark in the younger generation that he had been hoping for. And over the years, that spark is still there. From Methanol Marathon to the latest competition, EcoCAR 2: Plugging In to the Future, Larsen says it is hard for him to pick his favorite.

‘The competitions were like my children, you can’t pick just one!”

And for some, like former competition organizer Mike Duoba of Argonne National Laboratory, was like a father figure.

“He was enthusiastic, motivated, and dedicated. He always understood where the students were coming from and believed that they could make a difference in the world,” said Duoba. Larsen understood students, even when they decide to dump water on his head at a FutureTruck Awards Ceremony!

“He took it in stride,” said Duoba. “He took it as if he were the coach getting drenched after a big win.”

Throughout the years, Larsen has really gone above and beyond for competitions. Current AVTC Director for Argonne National Laboratory, Kristen De La Rosa, said that Larsen hired her to help with competitions after her work for the Propane Vehicle Challenge in 1997.

“I remember during my interview he told me how this job would change people’s lives, and affect the automotive industry for generations,” she said. “He really had a strong vision for the AVTC program which inspired everyone around him.”

So what’s next for Larsen? After retiring from a 33 year career at Argonne in November, Larsen will start his own consulting company to continue his work with electric drive technologies and fuels. For Larsen, it seems like his vision he had in the 1980s is still alive and growing.

“After all of these years, competitions have really gone above and beyond my original vision,” he said. “Competition graduates were provided learning opportunities and now are in industry working on advanced vehicles and technologies. If anything, that is true success.”

Check out the slideshow below to see photos of Bob Larsen from past AVTCs!

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