Cal State L.A.’s team is on track for year one of the four-year EcoCAR 3: Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition with General Motors (GM) as one of its sponsors. The team was recently presented a $20,000 check by GM to be used as seed money for mentorship, equipment and network access.
“We look forward to working with Sarah Vano of GM, who is the team’s new mentor and a transmission development engineer,” said Technology Professor David Blekhman, faculty adviser of the Cal State L.A. EcoCAR 3 team.
Cal State L.A. is the only university from California in EcoCAR 3. This collegiate competition challenges each of the 16 teams to redesign and re-engineer a Chevy Camaro in an effort to reduce the energy consumption and greenhouse emissions of the vehicle, while maintaining consumer acceptability, performance, utility and safety. At the end of the fourth year, the student-built vehicles will participate in an over-the-road event, raising the stakes for vehicle readiness, dependability and safety.
As mandated in the competition, teams are expected to seek out sponsorship to support their activities. The team is also responsible for research, development and design, as well as creating the vehicle’s systems, buying parts and developing promotional materials.
Since September, the team has traveled to two training workshops in Novi, MI, and Columbus, OH. Team members also completed their project charter, communications plan, marketing scope report and engineering feasibility study. “We have been working hard on our vehicle architecture selection report and getting ready for our next training workshop," said Justin Bower, the team captain.
Cal State L.A.'s EcoCAR 3 team is currently in Austin, TX, for the Year One Winter Workshop hosted by Freescale.
To find out more about Cal State L.A.’s EcoCAR 3 team, click here: http://csulaecocar3.org/.
Photo: EcoCAR 3 team members in Austin, TX. (Photo credit: Cal State L.A. EcoCAR 3)
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01/16/15