Ecocar 2

My son, in his first real quarter at CSULA, has joined a group of Engineering students who will be working on a project called Ecocar 2. Here are some of the things they (and he) will be dealing with. According to my son, they are in the second year of the three year program. My son will be one of the Electrical Engineering students.

EcoCAR 2: Plugging in to the Future, is a three-year collegiate engineering competition and the only program of its kind. The competition's mission is a vital one: offer an unparalleled hands-on, real-world experience to educate the next generation of automotive engineers. The competition challenges 15 universities across North America to reduce the environmental impact of a Chevrolet Malibu without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability.

Established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors (GM), EcoCAR 2 builds upon a successful 23-year history of DOE Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTC) that exemplify the power of public/private partnerships in providing invaluable experience and training to promising, young minds entering the North American job market. EcoCAR 2 follows the widely acclaimed competition series EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge.

Shaped by the greatest design changes in the history of the automotive industry, EcoCAR 2 requires students to explore a variety of power train architectures focusing on electric drive vehicle technology. EcoCAR 2 teams will utilize a Chevrolet Malibu, donated by General Motors as the integration platform for their advanced vehicle design.

My son had to sign all sorts of non-disclosure agreements, especially for the Chevrolet information. So much of it is propitiatory. I was OK with this and so was his Dad. As we all figured, it comes with doing something new and unique.

My humble opinion is that this is a great learning experience and it (of course) could open up some doors for real world jobs, somewhere down the road.

Good luck to you my son.