Freescale Helps Drive Challenge X Collegiate Automotive Engineering Competition to Finish Line

Automotive Semiconductor Leader Awards Student Innovation and Supports EcoCAR Challenge to Spark the Next Generation of Eco-Friendly Cars

Freescale Semiconductor, the leading supplier of semiconductors to the automotive industry, has concluded its $1.8 million investment in the Challenge X sustainable vehicle competition by announcing the winners of its annual “Silicon on the Move” award. Freescale also has announced its commitment to supporting “EcoCAR: The Next Challenge” – a new international collegiate vehicle engineering competition.

The four-year Challenge X competition, which challenged students to re-engineer a Chevrolet Equinox, culminated with a multi-city, 17-car East Coast road rally that culminated today in Washington, D.C.

At the closing ceremonies, Freescale awarded its annual “Silicon on the Move” Award to three university teams, presenting them with cash prizes and trophies:
First place – Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology,
Second place – University of Wisconsin at Madison
Third place – Ohio State University

Freescale chose the three winning collegiate teams based on their creativity in using semiconductor devices in effective and innovative ways to solve eco-friendly automotive design challenges.

In addition, Freescale is hosting teams that have demonstrated excellence in use of advanced model-based control and implantation with an embedded processor. Freescale has selected Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Mississippi State to attend and showcase their winning vehicles at the Freescale Technology Forum, June 16-19 in Orlando, Florida.

“The engineering students who participated in Challenge X represent the future of green automotive design,” said Kevin Klein, global marketing manager for automotive MCUs at Freescale’s Microcontroller Solutions Group. “Through our support of Challenge X and now the EcoCAR Challenge, Freescale is helping to foster a new generation of talented automotive engineers who will develop sustainable vehicle technology for the next decade and beyond.”

Freescale will bring the same level of commitment to EcoCAR, which kicks off in the fall of 2008. The three-year competition will challenge students to re-engineer a GM vehicle to achieve improved fuel economy and reduced emissions. Technologies explored will be identical to those under research and development by the automotive industry to meet the demands to improve energy efficiency, dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and address California zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) regulations. These technologies will include full-function electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell hybrid vehicles.

About Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility

The Challenge X competition has brought together the resources of industry, government and academia to provide 17 college-student teams with real-world experience in developing eco-friendly transportation solutions. The U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors Corporation were the headline sponsors of Challenge X. Platinum sponsors included Freescale, National Instruments, The MathWorks, Natural Resources Canada and AVL Powertrain engineering.

Freescale invested in the challenge at the onset of the program, viewing it as an opportunity to support the country’s best and brightest minds to help shape the future of environmentally friendly automobiles. As a platinum sponsor, Freescale has provided almost $2 million in development boards, Power Architecture™ components and software. In addition, Freescale has organized electronic engineering training sessions, technology forums and mentorships for participating student teams to learn more about how to effectively balance performance with current green design demands. For additional information about Challenge X and EcoCAR, visit www.challengex.org.

Freescale: The leader in automotive semiconductors

Freescale is the No. 1 supplier of automotive semiconductors, with more than 30 years of experience in the automotive industry. Freescale’s sensors, analog products and 8-, 16- and 32-bit MCU families provide intelligence and connectivity for advanced safety, body electronics, chassis, engine control, powertrain, driver information and telematics. Freescale is a pioneer in FlexRay™ technology and was the first supplier to integrate CAN, LIN™ and flash memory technologies on automotive MCUs.

About the Freescale Technology Forum

Created to inspire innovation and collaboration, the Freescale Technology Forum (FTF) has become the developer event of the year for the embedded semiconductor industry. The Forum, which debuted in 2005, has drawn nearly 20,000 attendees at FTF events worldwide since its inception. For more information about FTF events, go to http://www.freescale.com/ftf.

About Freescale Semiconductor

Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale is one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies with 2007 sales of $5.7 billion (USD). www.freescale.com
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