|
2008 Student-of-the-year, Nicholas Harker, has been an
outstanding student (he was named Mechanical Engineering's
Outstanding Senior in May 2007), an outstanding leader in
the IEWorks as a mentor, and an outstanding member of the
UI's Clean Snowmobile Team. Nick Harker is a mechanical
engineering graduate student at the University of Idaho,
working with NIATT and the UI Clean Snowmobile Challenge (UICSC)
Team. Nick received his BS in mechanical engineering in May
2007 and his MS in May 2009. Nick will begin work at INL in
the summer of 2009.
He has been involved with the UI-CSC Team for the past
five years and is now their graduate student mentor, leading
the engine development and calibration efforts for the team.
His senior capstone team designed, fabricated, installed,
tuned and tested a direct injection cylinder head for a
two-stroke snowmobile engine which doubled fuel efficiency
and reduced emissions 80-95 percent.
While Nick was the team captain in 2007, the team placed
first overall in the national SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge
and won many additional awards.
The team was awarded the Most Sportsmanlike trophy after
Nick stopped the Idaho snowmobile in the middle of the
Challenge to help a competitor whose snowmobile was on fire.
Nick’s graduate research centers on engine design,
development, and calibration for ethanol-gasoline blended
fuels. This work is focused on improving emissions,
efficiency, and power output. When not at school or work, he
enjoys modifying and riding motorcycles, snowmobiles, and
other motorized vehicles. |
Nick Harker
2008 Student-of-the-Year
Previous Graduates
Honored
as
Students-of-the-Year
2008--Guillermo
Madrigal
2007--Matthew Benke
2006--Nathan Bradbury
2005--Yuri Meresczak
2004--Dan Cordon
2003--Philip Rust
2002--David Alexander
2001--Geoffrey Judd
2000--Dan Gerbus
1999--Paul Coffelt
1998--Andrew A. Miller
1997--Matthew Zoll
|
