WWU to welcome back its X PRIZE team Thursday at noon

The Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) team from Western Washington University that just completed a dramatic run all the way to the last days of competition in the finals of the $10 Million Progressive Automotive X-Prize will arrive back in Bellingham this week in time for a celebration event at noon on Thursday, Aug. 5, at the PAC Plaza on the WWU campus.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will provide an opportunity for well-wishers to congratulate the team; meet team members; discuss and see the team’s car, Viking 45; and hear about lessons learned from the rigorous competition and how the construction of Viking 45 could influence the direction of the VRI in the coming years.

“We are very proud of what the X-Prize team has accomplished. It is another really great example of the excellence we have among our students at Western and their ability to compete at the very highest levels,” said Arlan Norman, dean of WWU’s College of Sciences and Technology.

The Viking 45 team advanced to the second-to-last day of trials and events at the Automotive X-Prize competition – a quest to design and build a 100-mpg automobile that could be easily mas manufactured – making it further into the events than any other university worldwide. More than 140 teams started the competition and Viking 45 made it through test after test, from range tests to safety trials to technical inspections – until there were less than a dozen teams left, before finally being eliminated.

"We need to hold our heads high, because this has been a great achievement to get this far in the contest," VRI Director Eric Leonhardt said after the competition. "From a student's and an educator's perspective, I can't imagine any other way to bring these lessons home to these students – technical lessons, interpersonal skills, time management, leadership, these are all things that we learned here. We've shown that Western Washington University can compete at this level."

There will be no charge for parking on campus during the event.

For more information on the welcome-back event for the VRI’s Viking 45 team, contact the WWU Office of University Communications at (360) 650-3350.