Wayne State University will host the kickoff workshop for EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future, a one-of-a-kind engineering competition between teams representing 15 universities challenged to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles without compromising performance, safety or consumer acceptability.
The competition will take place Thursday, Sept. 8 through Saturday, Sept. 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Wayne State University's Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center at 5050 Anthony Wayne Drive in Detroit. (Because some sessions are closed, media interested in attending a workshop or in conducting interviews are required to coordinate a time with Kimberly DeClark at 202-441-0096 or kdeclark@anl.gov.)
This three-year collegiate engineering program, established by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors, will educate the next generation of automotive engineers, giving them the knowledge and skills needed to continue the evolution of automotive propulsion technology and energy efficiency. General Motors provides production vehicles, vehicle components, seed money, technical mentoring and operational support. The DOE and its research and development facility, Argonne National Laboratory, provide competition management, team evaluation, and technical and logistical support.
Through the program, EcoCAR 2 teams will follow a real-world Vehicle Development Process (VDP) modeled after GM's VDP. The teams will use 2013 Chevrolet Malibus as the integration platform for their advanced vehicle design.
At the kickoff workshop, the teams will utilize the state-of-the-art facilities of Wayne State University's Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center to receive training in tools for Model-Based Design - like MathWorks MATLAB and Simulink - and software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation techniques. Aided by these design tools - as well as $25,000 in seed money - the teams will spend the next year developing their vehicle designs.
PARTICIPANTS: The 15 university teams participating in the EcoCAR 2 competition are:
California State University, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, FL)
Mississippi State University (Starkville, MS)
North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC)
The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA)
Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN)
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN)
University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
University of Victoria (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
University of Washington (Seattle, WA)
University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA)
Wayne State University (Detroit, MI)
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About Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.
About EcoCAR 2
EcoCAR 2 is a three-year competition that builds on the 23-year history of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) advanced vehicle technology competitions by giving engineering students the chance to design and build advanced vehicles that demonstrate cutting-edge automotive technologies.
General Motors provides production vehicles, vehicle components, seed money, technical mentoring and operational support. The DOE and its research and development facility, Argonne National Laboratory, provide competition management, team evaluation, and technical and logistical support.
Through this important partnership, EcoCAR 2 aims to inspire and educate the next generation of automotive engineers and accelerate the development and demonstration of technologies that are of interest to the DOE and the automotive industry. For more information about the student engineering program, the participating schools or the competition sponsors, please visit http://www.EcoCAR2.org.