CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
13 April 2011
Events News
SAE 2011 World Congress Marks the Official Launch to EcoCAR 2: Plugging into the Future
Today at SAE 2011 World Congress in Detroit, David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), took the stage for the morning keynote address and, along with Karl Stracke from General Motors (GM), announced the official launch of EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future.
Established by the DOE and GM, EcoCAR 2 is a three-year collegiate engineering competition and the only program of its kind. The mission of EcoCAR 2 is to educate the next generation of automotive engineers through a hands-on, real-world engineering experience. The competition challenges 16 North American universities to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability. Combining new teams and veterans to Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions, the schools that have been chosen to participate in the EcoCAR 2 are as follows:
• 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 Ontario Institute of Technology (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada)
• 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)
EcoCAR 2 requires students to explore a variety of powertrain architectures and follow a real-world engineering regimen modeled after GM’s Global Vehicle Development Process (GVDP). EcoCAR 2 teams will utilize a Chevrolet Malibu, donated by General Motors, as the integration platform for their advanced vehicle design.
“Giving the students the Chevy Malibu for the next vehicle made perfect sense, as the industry and consumers are moving to smaller cars,” said Karl Stracke, CEO of Opel/Vauxhall at GM. “Plus, the Malibu offers the students a flexible platform that will allow them to explore various advanced propulsion technologies and other fuel savings techniques. We’re definitely eager to watch the EcoCAR teams gain unparalleled experience and knowledge that will be extremely valuable to any automotive company after the students graduate.”
For more information about the student engineering program, the participating schools or the competition sponsors, please visit http://www.EcoCAR2.org or the Inside the Green Garage blog.
About the Sponsors
Sponsors provide the hardware, software, training, and support the teams need to integrate technologies into their competition vehicles. This arrangement gives students access to components and systems that might otherwise be unavailable or too expensive for them to use. Sponsors are able to promote their technologies and observe how they perform during rigorous and innovative use. Sponsors have the opportunity to meet, work with, and recruit hundreds of the nation's most motivated and talented engineering students. Sponsors also gain international media coverage and develop partnerships with government, industry, and academia.
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