Jonathan Riska to Represent Penn State Behrend at SAE International Supermileage Challenge

2013 Jun 5

Jonathan Riska, a freshman from Macungie, will represent Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, at the Society of Automotive Engineers' International Supermileage Challenge.

The two-day event promotes automotive fuel economy. The top cars are expected to exceed 3,000 mpg.

Twenty-eight university teams will compete at the event, which will be held June 6 and 7 at the Eaton Corporation's test track in Marshall, Mich. The Penn State Behrend team won the competition in 2012, squeezing 1,485 miles from a single gallon of gas.

The team's new car could double that. It's 20 pounds lighter, with a spring-leaf suspension and a rotary-valve engine -- one of maybe four in the world -- built by the students. It will run on $1,000 hand-made radial tires.

For more information about the International Supermileage Challenge, go to students.sae.org/competitions/supermileage/. For more about Penn State Behrend, a comprehensive residential college with more than 4,700 students, go to behrend.psu.edu.