Where Are They Now: UWAFT’s Hung Nguyen

June 19, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News, Team Posts by ggguestuser | Permalink

As a former Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) student, Hung Nguyen felt more than prepared when entering his first job as a CEE Engineer with General Motors Canada. Serving as a mechanical team member in ChallengeX and the mechanical team lead in EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge for the University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team, Hung walked away with a set of skills he didn’t have prior to the competitions – time management, project management and being able to manage a small team.

“A lot of the stuff that I did for the Waterloo team translated directly into my job,” said Hung.

Waterloo’s AVTC team intrigued Hung when he would walk by the garage almost every day and see students working on vehicles. “I found that these competitions were very interesting by the fact that you could design and build something from start to finish,” he said.

After graduating from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering, Hung was hired by GM Canada. He has held his position ever since. “What excites me about my job is I’m critical to the review and virtual validation of cars before they hit production.”

Hung said that AVTCs have impacted not only his career path, but his life as well.

“AVTCs gave me the opportunity to participate in a world of automotive engineering that I otherwise wouldn’t have had. To any student that is going through undergrad and thought, ‘Hey, is this all engineering is?’ They should look for something extracurricular like this where they can have ownership for a project.”

Looking back on his time with UWAFT, Hung’s most memorable moment took place in the garage with his teammates, trying to solve difficulties they were having with the vehicle. “You find out the answer, then you implement it and it works and the car starts to move. That’s honestly one of the best feelings you can have.”

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An EcoCAR Center Stack Becomes a Senior Design Project at RHIT

June 18, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News, Team Posts by ggguestuser | Permalink

Ruben Rodriguez is a senior Computer Science major at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Growing up, Ruben enjoyed playing video games and was fascinated by how games worked and how they were made. His interest in video games encouraged him to pursue a degree in computer science at Rose-Hulman.

Ruben joined the RHIT EcoCAR 2 team in November of 2012 while looking to complete a Senior Design Project. For his senior project, Ruben worked with RHIT’s Freescale-donated center stack. He teamed up with three fellow CS seniors, Trevor Krenz, Matthew Iwema and Mark Wlodarski.

The center stack senior design project was based around creating a user interface for the vehicle’s touch screen. The goal of the center stack is to replace the radio and HVAC controls. This will allow the driver to control the radio, adjust climate control and see the vehicle’s status through the touch screen implementation.

Originally, Ruben’s team was going to use Linux as the operating system for the center stack and install Elektrobit’s EB Guide user interface creation software. After much debate, however, they decided to use QNX as the operating system. QNX supplied the team with a premade user interface that could be modified instead of starting from scratch. The use of the QNX operating system led to a smoother development process.

When asked about his experience through EcoCAR 2, Ruben said, “I have had incredible real-world training by not only using software, but by maintaining and creating relationships with clients.”

Ruben graduated this May. His hope for the center stack is that it will be successfully implemented with a user-friendly interface for the driver.

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EcoCAR 2 At the Electric Drive Conference

June 17, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News by ggguestuser | Permalink

Virginia Tech’s EcoCAR 2 vehicle sat alongside the latest and greatest electric vehicles last week in Washington, DC at the 2013 Electric Drive Conference and Annual Meeting.

EcoCAR 2 was on exhibit at last week’s EDTA Conference,  which brings industry leaders and policy makers together to accelerate electrification in the automobile. The Virginia Tech vehicle was on display, showcasing the vehicle’s series parallel plug-in hybrid architecture.  The vehicle uses an UQM PowerPhase 125 electric motor with an 18.3 kWh A123 battery pack; after a single charge the vehicle can run for about 45 miles in electric-only mode.  The vehicle also uses a GM 2.4 L flex fuel engine which kicks in automatically when the battery hits a low level of charge, achieving efficient power transfer to the wheels as the engine and electric motors are combined at different times.

The conference was a great opportunity to showcase the electric properties of one of the EcoCAR 2 entries, and to connect with competition sponsor Bosch, who also had a presence at the conference.

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Behind the Scenes of Purdue’s Engine Removal

June 14, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News, Team Posts, Video Blogs by ggguestuser | Permalink

This spring, the Purdue EcoCAR 2 team needed to remove the engine from its vehicle. Initially, team members had planned to drop the engine out from the bottom of the car because of the way the car was assembled. Based on feedback, they thought this would be an easy project, but then reality set in.

One of the project managers was able to get one of the bolts holding the cradle in the car, while another team member tried the other two bolts with no luck. After the original bolt moved about a quarter of an inch, it eventually got stuck. The team continued to use the impact wrench to attempt to get it out to no avail. What the team member didn’t realize was that when they did all of this, they actually cross-threaded the bolt, broke the nut and stripped the head.

This forced the team to switch the plan and start to drill a hole in the nut to try to fully fracture it with the idea that the bolt would then just fall out. After breaking three drill bits, they decided to call it a night. The next morning, the team returned with a brand new corded drill, new drill bits, two car jacks and the determination that the bolt would come out. After jacking the engine and the frame up, the team began drilling again. After 30 unsuccessful minutes, the team decided to give the impact wrench another try with a smaller socket. This time, the bolt came out as it should! After much celebrating, team members got the other bolts removed, and after disconnecting a few more parts and lines, they were able to lift the car from the engine and cradle. Cheers erupted in the lab with excitement that it was finally out.

This was a great learning experience for all students involved. Very few of the students had removed an engine before, and others had not dropped an engine from below the vehicle. The team excelled in the face of a challenge: Ideas were thrown out constantly, students were leaving to do get tools from home and communications was constant. Check out the video below to watch a time lapse of the engine removal!

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Where Are They Now: UWAFT’s Anna Sinicki

June 12, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News, Team Posts by ggguestuser | Permalink

Anna Sinicki first heard about EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge while on an internship at Microsoft. “The business/outreach stream of EcoCAR was a fascinating challenge,” says Anna, who completed an undergraduate degree in science at the University of Waterloo before moving onto the MBA program at Wilfrid Laurier University. “I must admit, I was not a car person by any means, but the prospect of working with fuel cell vehicle technology was something I couldn’t pass up.”

As an MBA student, Anna worked with the EcoCAR team to develop a business plan for Waterloo’s fuel cell plug-in hybrid vehicle and led an outreach program to showcase how fuel cell vehicles work.

At first, Anna was slightly intimated about the position. “I was somewhat concerned that I wouldn’t fit into the world of cars: Not only was I unfamiliar with the vehicle engineering, but also the automotive industry didn’t seem to have many women,” says Anna. “After attending the EcoCAR competition however, I quickly became exposed to the technical concepts of vehicles and realized where my experience in marketing and business benefits the competition. I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of high-calibre women who work in the industry and who are very passionate about green vehicle innovation. It was inspiring.”

One of the highlights for Anna in working on EcoCAR was the chance to showcase the team’s technology to youngsters in grades K-12. “Speaking with youth, particularly younger children, about EcoCAR and green vehicles was always fun; watching their eyes light up with excitement about the future of automotive was always a thrill,” says Anna. She was also impressed by the commitment that GM and its sponsors made to the competition. “Watching the VPs at GM make it a priority to teach students about green vehicles truly demonstrated their enthusiasm for the technology and willingness to share their knowledge with the next generation of engineers.”

Since leaving EcoCAR in 2010, Anna landed a job at BMW Group Canada as a Market Research Specialist. Her experience with EcoCAR has helped her immensely, “Through EcoCAR, I learned about the technology, methods of explaining complex technology to customers and working with engineers. These are skills that I use every day.”

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How Much Money Does an Electric Car Really Save?

June 12, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News by ggguestuser | Permalink

There’s no question that a vehicle powered by electricity is more environmentally-friendly than one run on gasoline, and with gas at a national average of $3.65 per gallon, it’s obvious that electricity is a less expensive fuel too. But exactly how much cheaper is it to fuel an electric car? In the past consumers would have to estimate the difference, but the DOE has introduced a new tool that removes the guesswork from electric/gasoline vehicle comparisons.

The eGallon is a calculation of “the cost of fueling a vehicle with electricity compared to a similar vehicle that runs on gasoline.” The DOE website shows consumers a side-by-side comparison of the eGallon versus a gallon of gasoline, not only nationwide, but in each individual state.

Image Courtesy DOE

Nationally, it is over three times more expensive to fuel a traditional vehicle, at $3.65 per gallon, than an electric vehicle, at $1.14 per gallon. And the disparity in some states is even better! In Arkansas, for instance, gas is 3.7 times more expensive than electricity.

Find out how wallet-friendly an electric vehicle can be in your state – visit: http://energy.gov/articles/egallon-how-much-cheaper-it-drive-electricity

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UW EcoCAR Visits First Place Elementary

June 11, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News, Team Posts by ggguestuser | Permalink

This spring, members of the UW EcoCAR 2 team visited First Place Elementary.  First Place is a school for children that are exposed to domestic violence at home.  After giving a brief presentation, team members broke into groups to help kids assemble solar powered toys.

Many of these students will be the first members of their families to attend college, which made this event particularly special. What started as a strictly high-level presentation about environmental issues and hybrid cars turned into a conversation about the college experience in general. UW likened college to a sleepover that never ends!

Two engineers joined communications manager Tyler Rose on this trip: Brendan Boyer and Myann Refai.

“Today I had a really good time talking to the kids a First Place Elementary,” Myann said of her experience. “I felt as though I was making an impact on these kids’ future–as cliché as it sounds. Being able to relate with them by comparing what we do to as engineers to what they do as kids – like playing with Legos – was really refreshing. When kids are that young they do look up to people like us, and I’m confident that these visits year to year from UW EcoCAR will be something they remember when they begin to think about their college career.”

Amazingly enough, many of the students remembered UW team members from their visit last year. All of them were rambunctious to say the least, which prompted Tyler to ask their teacher if they were over-stimulated by the visit.  “No, this is actually very good!” she said. “To your credit, they are incredibly engaged with your group.”

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University of Victoria Wins the 1st Place MathWorks Modeling Award

June 6, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News, Team Posts by ggguestuser | Permalink

Lauren Tabolinksy, Student Competition Program Specialist at MathWorks, shares her thoughts and congratulations with the winners of the Year Two MathWorks Modeling Award:

This year, MathWorks sponsored a Modeling Award for the Year Two Competition. EcoCAR 2 teams were assessed on how well they applied Model-Based Design concepts using MathWorks tools, including the key areas of plant modeling, control design and tuning, data analysis, industrial grade model-based design development process elements and lessons learned.

Eleven EcoCAR 2 teams participated in the MathWorks Modeling Award this year, and in the end, the University of Victoria took home the top prize. They used online and offline parallel optimization of fuel economy at the vehicle level and MathWorks was very impressed with the enthusiasm and professionalism of the student presenters.

MathWorks would also like to congratulate Mississippi State University and Ohio State University, who won 3rd and 2nd place respectively.

On behalf of MathWorks, congratulations to all of the teams who participated in the Modeling Award this year. We were very impressed with the quality of the presentations!

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Where Are They Now: NCSU’s Ali Seyam

June 5, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News, Team Posts by ggguestuser | Permalink

Seyam: second row, third from right

Since he can remember, NCSU EcoCAR alumnus Ali Seyam has had an interest in the automotive industry. Other interests have come and gone through the years, but his passion for autos stuck.

When Seyam joined the Mechanical Engineering department at N.C. State University in 2005, he was one of many students interested in autos, but was on his way to becoming part of a small but distinguished group.

When the opportunity to join EcoCAR came along in 2008, Seyam was part of a small group of students huddled around a computer at D.H. Hill Library during Spring Break, feverishly finishing a proposal to get N.C. State into the competition.

The team worked on it through the last available minute, and it was a call to one of the group member’s cell phones during class that let them know they were in!

The three years of EcoCAR included Seyam’s transition from an undergraduate to a graduate student. Within the EcoCAR program, he held positions such as mechanical team lead and graduate student team lead, where he helped re-integrate the lithium ion battery system into a more compact and lighter package.

Seyam has many memories of EcoCAR, such as calling the team garage – the same place where he jumped into the thick blue suit to wire a high voltage battery pack together – his second home.

Syeam recalls memorable trips, such as the summer where his team saw their car compete in Yuma, Arizona and then gazed at low-flying jetliners in the sky aboard a cruise ship in San Diego, California.

Today, Seyam is a General Motors durability test engineer in Milford, Michigan.

“No doubt it is because of EcoCAR I am here today applying the skills I’ve learned. It’s a dream job on a career path I got to choose, where I get to drive prototype vehicles on test tracks for data that helps determine their longevity,” said Seyam. “To me, EcoCAR was not just an opportunity to boost my resume, but in some ways was transformational from within, and was a tall stepping stone to the future I now have. Someday I hope there will be dedicated EcoCAR 2 students that will also be able reflect back in similar ways,” he said.

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CSU’s Energy Storage Team Makes Progress and Learns Along the Way

June 4, 2013 in EcoCAR 2 News, Team Posts by ggguestuser | Permalink

Colorado State University’s Energy Storage Team worked hard this year to get the donated A123 Systems battery pack up and running. At first, the team had to familiarize itself with the project and all the work done by last year’s team in designing the energy storage system. Once the batteries arrived last fall, the team began working on the A123 modules. The process was a bit slow at first as the mechanical engineering students had to put on their electrical mindset. After much studying of electrical schematics, wiring diagrams and pin outs, the team wired up the batteries and began figuring out the computer interface to run tests and verify that the battery worked properly. With the help of the CSU Controls Team, the battery system was set up to test sending different signals that would start it up. After much trial and error and some wiring fixes, the team was able to complete the normal start-up sequence: The batteries were operating as expected.

Having completed bench testing, the team moved forward with prepping the system for installation into the vehicle. This included rebuilding some of the A123 provided wiring to fit the layout designed for the CSU vehicle. The low voltage communication for the battery system is quite complex and includes 16 wires per module for each of the seven modules. Redesigning over 100 wires for the communication between batteries needed to be done carefully to ensure lines were not crossed.

Throughout the process, this year’s team learned a great deal about the importance of integrating different levels of safety into the vehicle. Understanding and working with high voltage has been an important learning process and is shaping the way the team moves forward. Keeping both the consumer and mechanic in mind, Energy Storage had to ensure that high voltage is contained from the passenger compartment and clearly labeled on the path it takes through the vehicle. Because high voltage is the life blood of the CSU Fuel Cell Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle, building a reliable and safe system has been the heart of the Energy Storage Team’s work.

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