UCF Engineering Students Pedal to Victory with Award-Winning Human-Powered Vehicle Design

Highlights

• UCF's e-HPVC team won first place overall at the national ASME EFx competition hosted on UCF's main campus.

• The team's award-winning vehicle was designed and built as part of a Spring 2026 Senior Design project.

• Another UCF team earned second place in the ASME Innovative Additive Manufacturing 3D Challenge.

Fueled by engineering ingenuity and months of testing, a team of UCF mechanical engineering students raced its human-powered vehicle past competitors from across the country to claim a national championship.

What began as a Spring 2026 Senior Design project ended with the e-HPVC Senior Design team earning three first-place trophies at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) e-Human Powered Vehicle (e-HPVC) Challenge.

Hosted on UCF's main campus, the annual competition challenges university teams to design, fabricate and race human-powered vehicles, testing everything from vehicle design and safety to endurance and speed.

UCF's team took first place in both the endurance and drag race events, second place in design and first place overall, earning four trophies and $2,500 in prize money.

"Becoming national champions while representing UCF feels surreal, says Estefano Cicci, a mechanical engineering major and member of the e-HPVC team. "I hope these trophies remind future students that the goals that feel out of reach are exactly the ones worth chasing, and that a small, dedicated team from UCF can prove itself on a national stage."

Building a Better Ride

In previous years, UCF's e-HPVC teams have placed well in the competition with recumbent tricycles, but each new group strives to improve upon the last. Eric Cruz-Hernandez, a mechanical engineering student and member of this year's team, says the group closely studied past designs to determine what worked and what needed improvement.

This year's vehicle featured a mid-drive motor with electronic shifting to improve speed and battery endurance. The team also redesigned the frame to make it lighter and more accessible for riders of varying heights.

Engineering Excellence Across the Board

The e-HPVC team wasn't the only group of Knights to win their competition.

A second UCF team placed second in the ASME Innovative Additive Manufacturing 3D Challenge, which asks students to re-engineer an existing product or create a new design. Teams were judged on ingenuity, engineering design principles and their use of additive manufacturing.

A third UCF team also showcased a fully functioning robot in the Student Design Competition, but didn't place.

The Teamwork Behind the Trophies

For Bryce Ballard, a mechanical engineering student and external outreach chair for ASME at UCF, hosting the 2026 EFx event on campus was just as meaningful as competing in it. It not only gave students the chance to represent the university, but also to create a welcoming and supportive environment for teams traveling from across the country.

"One of the most impactful parts of hosting was being able to support other teams when they encountered issues with their trikes," Ballard says. "Whether it was lending tools, helping troubleshoot problems or offering guidance, those interactions stood out the most. It reinforced that the competition is not only about performance, but also about collaboration, sportsmanship and building connections within the engineering community."

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