The team behind the fully electric REV11 race car overcame technical challenges to successfully compete in this year’s Formula SAE Electric competition, placing 15th overall and earning first place in the Business Presentation event.
“The finish marked more than the end of a race,” says Arjun Sharma, operations lead at Penn Electric Racing. “It was a visible reminder of how far Penn Electric Racing has come, and how much this achievement meant to everyone who has worked to bring the team to this point.”
Competing against 108 teams, Penn Electric Racing finished 15th overall, and earned first place in the Business Presentation event, the GM Excellence in Technical Innovation Award and the Cummins Sustainable Power and Performance Excellence Award. The team also placed sixth in the Design Finals, which was the highest finish among Ivy League schools.
The team completed the acceleration event for the first time since REV3 and finished the endurance event for the first time since REV5.
“What stands out most to me is not just the results, but how the team got there,” says Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering and professor in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics. “Solving immediate and stressful problems at a competition takes real resolve, and pushing through major technical setbacks in the final days speaks to the depth of commitment on this team.”
With the success of REV11 behind them, Penn Electric Racing is already looking ahead. The team has begun work on REV12, its next-generation race car, which will feature a four-wheel-drive architecture and build on the engineering innovation and teamwork that define the program.
When the Schuylkill swallowed the city: Lessons from Hurricane Ida’s historic flood
New Penn research shows that Hurricane Ida wasn’t a once-in-a-century anomaly but a preview of how climate change, urbanization, and aging infrastructure are rewriting flood risk.
The Fed explained: What it does and why it matters
Former Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and financial historian Peter Conti-Brown, both Wharton professors, unpack the central bank’s origins, its unusual structure, and the quiet ways it shapes the economy
How population changes are impacting primary education worldwide
Research from Penn sociologist Emily Hannum and colleagues reveals regional trends in whether school-age populations are increasing, plateauing, or decreasing—and shows how different countries are responding.
A bioengineered bean gum from the lab of Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell is found to reduce the levels of three microbes associated with head and neck squamous cell cancer to almost zero, without affecting the beneficial bacteria normally found in the mouth.
Fighting oral cancer with bioengineered chewing gum
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell shows that antiviral and antibacterial chewing gums reduce the levels of three microbes linked to worse outcomes in oral cancers, paving the way for more effective and affordable therapies.
