John Courtney worked on several engineering projects at Purdue University including the Purdue Baja SAE team from 2015-2016 where he designed and manufactured wheel hubs and brake rotors for their custom buggy. He also led the Electric Vehicle team's dual motor go kart project through the EPICS and IEEE programs from 2012-2016, which included designing sensors, battery enclosures, and a new motor mount. Currently, he is converting a 1989 Honda Pilot to electric drive in his spare time and has designed a battery enclosure.

1. Projects at Purdue
John Courtney
Purdue University
Mechanical Engineering

2. Purdue Baja SAE (2015-2016)
• Senior Design: Wheel hubs and Rotors
3rd at 2015 Midnight Mayhem Race
Previous 2015 Season Build
I spent a year developing a completely custom
buggy with 12 others for senior design. My
project focused on designing and
manufacturing the wheel hubs and brake
rotors. This vehicle was eventually raced at the
2016 Baja SAE California competition. This was
the team’s first attempt at making custom hubs
and rotors.

3. Purdue Baja SAE (2015-2016)
• Senior Design: Wheel hubs and Rotors
Aluminum front
hub and steel rotor
I produced CAD models, performed FEA
simulations based on loading conditions,
and also created CAM for manufacturing.
Tapered roller bearings were sized and
selected to handle axial loading.

4. Purdue Baja SAE (2015 - 2016)
Rear inboard rotor
mounted on inner CV
Aluminum rear hub
Steel insert for half shaft
I went with a conservative approach for handling
the torque transmitted by the half shaft by using
a 4340 steel insert. The rest of the hub was
made of 7150 aluminum for weight reduction.

5. Purdue Baja SAE (2015 - 2016)
Manufacturing

6. Purdue Baja SAE (2015 - 2016)
2016 Baja SAE California
Competition
Finished Hubs and Rotors
4 Hour
Endurance
Race

7. EPICS (2012 - 2013)
• Dual motor electric go kart:
Early model of dual motor go kart
Control system diagram
I restarted a previously unfinished senior
design project through Purdue’s Engineering
Projects in Community Service program. I was
the project manager over a team of 7 people.
The state of the project consisted of a bare
chassis and very little documentation.
The goal of the project was to build a dual
motor go kart with traction control that
mimicked the characteristics of a
differential for better turning
performance.

8. EPICS (2012 - 2013)
RPM sensing assembly
Custom steering shaft to mount steering
sensor
This project required sensors to be
selected and custom mounts designed
and fabricated. Two important sensors
were the rear RPM sensors and a front
steering sensor that required a custom
shaft to be made to mount the sensor.

9. IEEE (2014 - 2015)
• Continued dual motor go kart project
Long battery box Short battery box
Despite making great progress on the EPICS kart, I had to leave the program after 3
semesters due to not having time to take the class. The kart had sat in storage for a year
untouched. I became the team leader of IEEE and took control of the kart to finish and
race at the evGrandPrix.

10. IEEE (2013 - 2015)
Work in progress
2015 evGrandPrix Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Completed battery boxes

11. IEEE (2015 - 2016)
2016 evGrandPrix Race
New mount with adjustment
Programming motor controllers
Despite the success of the previous race, there were
issues that had to be fixed, such as a motor mount that
slipped due to too much torque. A more robust mount
was developed, and the team saw a 3rd place finish.

12. IEEE (2015 - Present)
Rolling chassis
• Electric 1989 Honda Pilot Conversion Battery box assembly with covers
removed
From the successes of the previous builds, I wanted to take on a new challenge by converting
a Honda Pilot to electric in my spare time. I raised $20,000 for the project. The vehicle will be
60 HP and will see higher voltages than the previous go karts. I designed a battery enclosure
to deal with mud and water immersion. Manufacturing is currently ongoing.