David Brancaccio, a longtime national business journalist and host and senior editor of NOW on PBS, visited Western’s Vehicle Research Institute Wednesday to videotape a feature on Western’s Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) team that completed a dramatic run all the way to the last days of competition in the finals of the Progressive Automotive X Prize.

A handful of students from the Department of Engineering Technology in Western Washington University's College of Sciences and Technology helped man the pit crew for the UL-14 Sammamish Mortgage/WWU College of Sciences and Technology/GO NAVY hydroplane during this past weekend's Seafair event in Seattle.

The boat, driven by Paul Becker, took first place in the final of the Unlimited Lights class, narrowly beating Kayleigh Perkins, driver of the UL-72 Foster Care-Triad Racing Technologies hydroplane, at the finish line.

More than a hundred well-wishers showed up to congratulate the Western Washington University X PRIZE Team during a recognition ceremony on campus Thursday, Aug. 5. Team members, recently returned from the finals of the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE competition at Michigan International Speedway, were at the event along with their car, Viking 45.

During the finals of the contest, Viking 45 achieved the equivalent of more than 110 miles per gallon with ultra-low emissions. WWU finished in the Top 10 of more than 130 cars that started the competition.

The Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) team from Western Washington University that just completed a dramatic run all the way to the last days of competition in the finals of the $10 Million Progressive Automotive X-Prize will arrive back in Bellingham this week in time for a celebration event at noon on Thursday, Aug. 5, at the PAC Plaza on the WWU campus.

Western Washington University Associate Professor of Industrial Design Jason Morris is currently working on a feature-length biographical historical documentary film about prolific industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague.

Teague was a pioneer in the field, and designed many of the products and places that defined modern America: Kodak cameras, the Boeing Stratocruiser aircraft, Steinway pianos, Sparton radios, Texaco service stations, Stueben glassware, the Marmon 16 automobile, and the 1939 World’s Fair.

The team from Western Washington University is officially out of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competition, having been unsuccessful at completing the accident avoidance maneuver and 60 mph-to-0 mph braking event during the dynamic safety trials on Monday, July 26, at Michigan International Speedway.

"This is difficult for us, because we were able to complete both of these events just a couple of weeks ago during the knockout phase," said Eric Leonhardt, director of WWU's Vehicle Research Institute.