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Ceryx-Equipped Truck Wins Big at FutureTruck Competition

25 June 2000

    MESA, Ariz. - After two weeks of grueling competition, an engineering team from West Virginia University (WVU) recently walked away with the first-place award at the FutureTruck 2000 event held near this desert community.

    The WVU team, driving a brand-new Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle outfitted with Ceryx's proprietary QuadCAT catalytic converter, also garnered a top award in the category of Lowest Greenhouse Gas Emissions, posting an overall 23 percent reduction from that produced by a stock vehicle.

    Professor Chris Atkinson, faculty advisor at West Virginia University, said: "The QuadCAT system worked exceptionally well. Particulate matter emissions were so low as to be almost unmeasurable."

    The Ceryx QuadCAT is unique in that it is currently the only catalytic converter known to simultaneously reduce four of the primary sources of air pollution -- oxides of Nitrogen (NOx), hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter, the black, soot-filled smoke generally associated with diesel engines. Ceryx's QuadCATs are currently undergoing certification testing in several areas throughout the world, and full-scale commercial production is expected to get underway in the fall.

    FutureTruck is a competition that challenges student engineers to re-engineer full-size sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to meet the needs of the future with a goal of producing environmentally friendly and efficient transportation while retaining the performance and utility features that SUV users have come to expect.

    This year's competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors Corp. and other major corporate sponsors, consisted of 14 separate weighted categories. In addition to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions category, teams also vied for awards in fuel economy, vehicle design, safety and appearance.

    Dr. Dorriah Page, Ceryx's president and CEO, said: "We're delighted to be associated with a program that's redefining the ways in which private industry, academia and government can work together to find solutions to some of the problems facing the transportation industry. It's particularly gratifying to be involved with the engineers who will shape our automotive future, and winning an award such as this is the icing on the cake."