Ohio State University Wins The MathWorks Modeling Award at FutureTruck 2004

University Uses MathWorks Products to Re-Engineer a Ford Explorer into a Hybrid Vehicle at Annual Student Engineering Competition

NATICK, Mass., June 21 -- The MathWorks today announced that Ohio State University is the recipient of The MathWorks Modeling Award at the FutureTruck 2004 Competition. The Ohio State University team received top honors for its use of The MathWorks core software products MATLAB(R) and Simulink(R) in the competition that challenges 15 North American student- engineering teams to re-engineer a Ford Explorer for lower emissions and higher fuel economy, while maintaining performance, safety, and affordability. The winning team used MATLAB and Simulink in the competition to design highly refined working models of engine, motor, transmission, controllers, and other subsystems that resulted in a more energy-efficient vehicle. The Ohio State University team's models and supporting MATLAB code were at a level far above the rest of the competitors in technical content, detail, and sophistication.

"Receiving The MathWorks Modeling Award at FutureTruck is an enormous honor for our team," said Cristian Musardo, master's graduate from Ohio State University. "We used Simulink and Real-time Workshop Embedded Coder to automatically generate code for the target MPC-555 supervisory micro- controller. This allowed us to develop and test control strategies in the simulation environment and rapidly download the code into our vehicle. Our knowledge of these state of the art practices will be essential as we transition to careers in the automotive industry."

The MathWorks marked its fourth year of support of the FutureTruck competition, which took place June 9-17, 2004, joining Ford Motor Company and the U.S. Department of Energy. The Company established the special modeling and simulation award last year to mark its longstanding support of research initiatives for environment-friendly and advanced automotive technology, while promoting student achievement.

The annual award recognizes students who leveraged MATLAB and Simulink in their hybrid vehicle design throughout the months-long design process. The award encourages the student teams to implement a model-based design approach that saves time and errors, improves understanding of the complex nature of a hybrid electric vehicle, and enables the synergistic operation of the various vehicle components.

FutureTruck is a unique four-year engineering program that brings together the resources of industry, government, and academia in a cooperative effort to address important environmental and energy-related issues posed by the growing demand for SUVs. For the overall FutureTruck competition, student teams were challenged to redesign Ford Explorers for lower emissions and 25 percent higher fuel economy. The MathWorks year-long commitment of FutureTruck 2004 included the donation of a complete suite of its tools to each student team, the provision of mentors, technical contacts, and judges for the overall FutureTruck competition.

"The MathWorks has continued to support FutureTruck through contributions for the past four years as we recognize the need for advanced automotive technology that is environment-friendly and efficient. FutureTruck continues to promote these ideas," said Cleve Moler, chief scientist at The MathWorks and creator of MATLAB. "We will continue to encourage students to develop skills and ideas that protect the environment and natural resources through competitions like FutureTruck."

About Future Truck

FutureTruck is a unique four-year engineering program that brings together the resources of industry, government, and academia in a cooperative effort to address important environmental and energy-related issues posed by the growing demand for SUVs. FutureTruck student teams are challenged to redesign their vehicle for lower emissions and 25 percent higher fuel economy. This unique competition demonstrates how industry, government, and academia can develop more energy-efficient and greener automotive technologies to improve the economy and the environment. For more information about this unique competition, visit http://www.futuretruck.org/.

About The MathWorks

The MathWorks is the world's leading developer of technical computing software for engineers and scientists in industry, government, and education. With an extensive product set based on MATLAB and Simulink, The MathWorks provides software and services to solve challenging problems and accelerate innovation in automotive, aerospace, communications, financial services, biotechnology, electronics, instrumentation, process, and other industries. The MathWorks was founded in 1984 and employs more than 1,000 people worldwide, with headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts. For additional information, visit http://www.mathworks.com/.

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