Fresh from a solid, sixth-place finish in national competition, the West Virginia University FutureTruck team will participate Thursday in Ripleys Fourth of July festivities.

WVU engineering students plan to drive their rebuilt Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle in the citys Independence Day parade. President Bush will also be in Ripley for the celebration, participating in opening ceremonies.

The FutureTrucks appearance in the parade was arranged by WVU Student Government Vice President Don McIntyre, who is from Ripley.

“Im from that area, and I thought it would be great if WVU had a presence down there,”McIntyre said.”The fact that the FutureTruck had a great showing in Arizona, I thought it would be great to exhibit that and let people know whats going on in Morgantown.”

In addition to showing off FutureTruck, the students will be passing out football posters and schedules, flying WVU logos, candy and zipper pulls

WVU was among 15 North American schools to compete in FutureTruck 2002 June 11-21 at the Ford Proving Grounds in Yucca, Ariz., and the California Motor Speedway in Fontana, Calif. The engineering teams spent the past year modifying the powertrains on their SUVs to make them more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly. During last months competition, they participated in events that tested their vehicles for greenhouse gas impact, fuel economy, exhaust emissions, acceleration, off-road performance, consumer acceptability and safety.

Besides finishing sixth overall, WVU finished first in two categories: best off-road performance with a perfect score of 50/50 and best skit at an informal evening event.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison placed first overall, followed by Michigan Technological University, University of California at Davis, Cornell University and Pennsylvania State University.