ALEXANDRIA, Va. – This spring at the Fuels Institute Annual Meeting, attendees chose the winners of the Fuels Institute Case Competition – Future of Transportation, which asked undergrad and graduate students to undertake a broad industry reinvention of the transportation sector.

From abstracts submitted from 23 schools, three finalists were chosen to present their ideas to conference attendees, who then casted their votes for the most viable and economical solution. Those submissions, along with the two honorable mentions, are now available online.

University of California at Berkeley students Negah Nafisi, Alana Siegner and Mercedes Taylor took home the top prize of $5,000 for their “Natural Gas and Electricity: Bridging America’s Transportation” proposal, which focuses on converting heavy-duty vehicles from their current fuel (predominantly diesel) to adsorbed natural gas (ANG), and the passenger vehicle sectors transition to electric power provided by a cleaner grid.

Duke University captured second place and the $2,500 prize for its “The Smart E-Highway” proposal, and the third place prize of $1,000 went to Morgan State University for its “Eidolon: Your Autonomous Chauffeur” proposal. Honorable mentions were “In-Motion Wireless Power Transfer for Connected Vehicles” from Clemson University; “Sustainable Shared Mobility” from Clemson University; and “Automation and Efficiency: Driverless Vehicles and the Hyperloop” from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

In addition to the student competition, the Fuels Institute, founded by NACS in 2013, commissions and publishes comprehensive, fact-based research projects that address the issues identified by the affected stakeholders. These projects will help to inform both business owners considering long-term investment decisions and policymakers considering legislation and regulations affecting the market.

The Fuels Institute hosts an annual case competition each year at its Annual Meeting.