News Release| EcoCAR 2 team award; Cal State L.A.

April 22, 2013

MEDIA ALERT: Tuesday, April 23

Cal State L.A.’s EcoCAR 2 team receives Green Leadership Award

L.A. County recognizes outstanding, innovative projects that improve local environment

Los Angeles, CA—Cal State L.A.’s EcoCAR 2 team will be honored in the non-profit category by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors with the Fifth Annual Green Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding and innovative energy conservation and environmental efforts by the private and public sectors.

The award will be presented by Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas on Tuesday, Apr. 23, at 9:30 a.m. during the board’s weekly meeting. The boardroom is located in Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple Street, room 381-B, in downtown Los Angeles.

“I was really excited when I saw the email notification come through,” said Abraham Vargas, business manager for CSULA EcoCAR 2 team. “Our team has been doing a lot of work this year and many of the team members are really committed to making sure we succeed. We want our city to be aware of how sustainable technologies can improve their way of life, and working on getting Los Angeles invested in this technology can have a big impact.”

Cal State L.A.’s EcoCAR 2 team is the only California team participating in a three-year competition, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors. The contest challenges the 15 university teams to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles by minimizing the vehicle’s fuel consumption, reducing emissions while at the same time retaining performance, safety and consumer appeal. The students are designing and integrating their Ethanol 85 powered plug-in hybrid solution into an all-new 2013 Chevrolet Malibu.

The CSULA EcoCAR 2 team aims to meet the competition goals while also educating fellow and middle school students and the public about sustainable technological advances in transportation. Team members, who represent the next generation of engineers, gain real world experience in the development of complex vehicle technologies.

“I am very proud that the CSULA team can hold its head high at this level, and compete among experienced competition teams. Many students on our team receive first-rate training from the competition and CSULA faculty, preparing them for the exciting world of advanced automotive development—those are the first rate jobs in California,” said Professor David Blekhman, the team’s faculty adviser.

Other recipients for this year’s Green Leadership Awards include Christina Kull Martens, Manager, Process Improvement, Northrop Grumman Corp. (chair category); Sony Pictures Entertainment – Sustainable Education and Outreach (business); Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission – Culver City Rainwater Harvesting Program (public agency); and Department of Public Works – Sustainable Pavement Treatment for County Roads (Los Angeles County).

 #  #  # 

Working for Californiaa since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 225,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu