Ultralight Tactical Vehicles Briefing

The Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering hosted Mr. Mark McCormick of Polaris Industries. Mr. McCormick is a Vice President at Polaris and is responsible for Polaris Defense, the branch focused on military mobility solutions and combat platform designs. Mr. McCormick briefed cadets on the Ultralight Tactical Vehicle (UTV) concepts used by Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and light infantry divisions. The discussion included details on the development of the M-RZR line of UTVs, including the spark ignition (SI or gasoline) and compression ignition (CI or diesel) power plant variants. Several of the cadets are using the M-RZR for both coursework and laboratory exercises in Vehicle Dynamics, as well as a test platform for Mechanical Engineering Capstone project work. The information Mr. McCormick shared with cadets gave them insights on vehicle design, user requirements, and operational trends in the UTV or ‘side-by-side’ market.