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Each year, NIATT honors one especially outstanding graduate student by naming that person
Student-of-the-Year.
Students are selected based on the technical merit of their
research, academic performance, and professionalism and leadership. The US
Department of Transportation (DOT) recognizes the student-of-the-year from each
university transportation center at a special ceremony during the annual Transportation Research Board
meeting in Washington, DC. The student
also receives $1000 cash award and a trip to DC for the annual TRB
conference.
2009 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 B.S. 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.
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