Each week a different Penn State EcoCAR 2 team member is highlighted in a video series called “Penn State EcoSTARS.” In short video clips, students explain who they are, the progress they have made with the team and what they enjoy about being a part of a group of engineers working toward innovative vehicle technology goals. The videos are a perfect way to introduce team members and give them the recognition they deserve as they prepare to compete in the Year One Finals.

Check out the EcoSTARS video below on Penn State’s outreach coordinator, Allison Lilly:

To view more of Penn State’s fall semester EcoSTARS, please visit the team’s YouTube page . Stay tuned to see outstanding Penn State EcoSTARS each week throughout the spring, too!

“I had a desire to work on something that would make the world a more efficient or cleaner place,” said Clark, who currently works at Johnson Controls Automotive as a system engineer.

His main role on the Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team was to work in the battery group, where, among other responsibilities, Clark had to package the battery system, determine where it would fit in the vehicle and devise a way to keep it cool.

He believes his experience in Challenge X contributed to his first job at Tesla Motors working as a mechanical engineer.

“There was definitely a lot of company contact during Challenge X, not only with General Motors, but also with the other companies that helped support the competition,” Clark said.

He always had a desire to work abroad and his dreams became realized when he moved to Germany for his current position at Johnson Controls Automotive. While he didn’t speak German at the time, batteries are a more specialized area of the automotive industry, and his expertise made him more marketable to German employers.

Today, he primarily works on battery modeling to determine how the battery interacts with the all aspects of a vehicle’s software and hardware during design validation testing.

Q: How did you get involved with EcoCAR as a student?

A: I joined about half-way through Year One of EcoCAR. One of my friends was on the Penn State EcoCAR team let me know they were looking for public relations and business students to join the program. Since I was a PR major and involved in the Public Relations Student Society of America, I agreed to help out, and recruited a few other students to join the Outreach team. The Penn State faculty advisor, Gary Neal, asked if I would come back for Year Two as the outreach coordinator/undergraduate research assistant – and the rest is history!

Q: What does your position at Argonne entail?

A: My official title is Communications and Logistics Coordinator for Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions. I assist in the behind-the-scenes logistics for the competition; everything from venue selection to signage. I also sit in on the outreach committee meetings and help develop all of the EcoCAR outreach deliverables. In addition to EcoCAR, I help coordinate the Clean Cities University Workforce Development Program, which consists of about 25 different Coalitions every academic semester.

Q: How did being an Outreach Coordinator prepare you for your position with Argonne?

A: Being involved in the program prior to joining Argonne’s team allowed me to learn about the program, how it is run, and the philosophy behind Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions. I was able to give insight into the outreach side of the program from a student perspective, which strengthened the outreach program. Although I don’t have an engineering degree, I learned about the various vehicle architectures and technical details of the program as a student, which helps me today.

Q: How was your first year as a competition organizer?

A: It was definitely an experience. As a student, I never realized how much the organizers do for the competition, especially from the logistics side. Like every job, you make some mistakes and you learn from them. I feel better prepared now that I have a year as an organizer under my belt.

Q: What was the most difficult part transitioning from student to organizer?

A: Just that – transitioning from a student to an organizer. As an organizer, you are in charge of the competition as a whole. You no longer have to manage one university team, but 16 of them.  You have to be very good at time management and multi-tasking. The position is very stressful at times, but I truly enjoy what I do.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Dana! Best of luck in in your second year as an organizer and Year One of EcoCAR: Plugging in to the Future!

The free app can be found on iTunes and other app stores by typing in “PSU EcoCAR.” It includes feeds to all of the team’s social media streams including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and YouTube. Users can view the team’s videos and pictures directly on the app, as well as leaving comments.

The Penn State EcoCAR team debuted the app at a campus Earth Day event, and it has been downloaded 257 times so far. The team was especially proud that State College’s Mayor Elizabeth Goreham and District Representative Rick Sollman downloaded the app when they visited the Penn State EcoCAR garage!

The app is a great way for the team to keep up with the ever-changing world of technology and spread EcoCAR goals and missions to a wider range of people. As Year Three comes to a close, the Penn State team will be sure to keep the app updated on the competition’s progress. Download Penn State EcoCAR’s App today!

At the local level, Mayor Elizabeth Goreham read Penn State EcoCAR’s Energy Month proclamation at the State College Borough Council Meeting. She encouraged residents to participate in Energy Month events and to make wiser energy decisions. The team also visited the local Council of Governments meeting where officials from all across the central part of Pennsylvania were excited to learn about EcoCAR.

At the state level, Representative Scott Conklin toured the garage and showed his support for the EcoCAR competition. As a car enthusiast, Conklin was interested in the team’s architecture, and he wanted to learn as much as possible. The engineering students were delighted to give him detailed descriptions and specifications about the EcoCAR.

At the federal level, Congressman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson viewed the vehicle and discussed the future of the automotive industry with EcoCAR engineers and outreach members.  He was enthusiastic about the project and was particularly interested in the safety aspects of the vehicle. As a Penn State graduate, Thompson was impressed with the team and wished them luck before Year Three Finals.

Check out the video below to see how the meetings went!

At the end of the long, green carpet in the midst of the latest hybrids, electric and alternative fuel vehicles, stood the Penn State EcoCAR team’s Green Street exhibit. Several engineers and outreach members spent the weekend explaining new technologies, answering questions and describing the EcoCAR competition.

Penn State team members were surprised by how much support they received, even in University of Pittsburgh territory! Many people who visited the exhibit were blown away that college students were capable of designing and implementing such complicated advanced vehicle technologies.

The Penn State team with their vehicle in Yuma, AZ

It was a rewarding experience for students to talk with visitors about Penn State’s vehicle architecture and its similarity with the Chevrolet Volt. With all the recent hype about the Volt, many people were already familiar with the type of extended-range electric vehicle that Penn State has. Countless individuals praised the car’s electric motor with a small backup biodiesel engine, and many predicted that the entire automotive industry will move in this direction soon.

Whether vehicles like Penn State’s EcoCAR will dominate the industry or not, it was encouraging to see the number of people interested in more environmentally friendly transportation. Throughout the weekend, people told the team their stories and explained why they’re making the decision to drive ‘green.’ If the Pittsburgh Auto Show is any indication, American drivers are ready for the vehicles in the EcoCAR competition to move from Green Street to every street!

Under the leadership of Penn State’s outreach coordinator, Allison Lilly, outreach team members are constantly brainstorming, planning and implementing events to promote advanced vehicle technologies. Each week there are events on campus, at local schools and in the community that present the opportunity to talk with people ranging from young children to state and federal officials.

Members have also heavily utilized social media and the team website as tools for two-way communication with community leaders and the general public. In addition to that feedback, the outreach team performed market research, which provides invaluable insights into consumers’ views of the automotive industry “going green.”

The Penn State outreach team will push themselves to finish strong during the remaining weeks of the competition. Even though there’s a shortage of time, there’s no shortage of opportunities—at least not for the dedicated members of Penn State EcoCAR.

Check out the video below to see local middle schoolers enjoying a visit from the team!

Twenty-five Penn State EcoCAR team members, including engineers, volunteers, faculty advisors and outreach members, attended the President’s speech, and the Penn State Outreach Coordinator, Allison Lilly, had the privilege of shaking his hand!

The Team at President Obama's speech

The President’s speech focused on inspiring Penn State students to meet their potential. He emphasized the need for collegiate competition, saying, “We’re going to have to out-innovate and out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.”

The Penn State EcoCAR team is very familiar with competition and innovation, so President Obama’s speech really resonated. The President focused on clean energy, “because right now, some of the most promising innovation is happening in the area of clean energy technology — technology that is creating jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and — something that every young person here cares about — making sure our planet is a healthier place to live that we can pass on to future generations.”

Obama called upon college students to try harder, work harder, and research harder – not for the grades, but for the good of our country’s future. “We need you to seek breakthroughs and new technologies that we can’t even imagine yet,” he said.  “And especially the young people who are here, we need you to act with a sense of urgency — to study and work and create as if the fate of the country depends on you – because it does.”

President Obama ended the speech with a message of hope, saying that he believes we will be able to once again set ourselves apart from the rest of the world by harnessing the energy of Penn State students and students across the nation.

The EcoCAR team left the room a little more excited to get back to work, to face their next challenge, and to set themselves apart in this outstanding engineering competition.

The success that all college seniors try to attain does not come without hard work and dedication to job-related activities during the college years.  Although EcoCAR is a fun and competitive way for engineers to foster their interests, it is also a great “real world” experience that can ultimately lead to excellent career opportunities.

Former Penn State EcoCAR team members Bryan Chambers and Tushar Swamy currently work for A123 Systems, one of the core sponsors of batteries and technical support for the EcoCAR Challenge.  Chambers is presently a mechanical engineer for the company, helping to diagnose problems and improve the design of battery packs for hybrid buses.  Although his role in the drivetrain group did not tie in directly with battery pack work in EcoCAR, Bryan gained other knowledge from taking part in the competition.

“I learned how to work with a large team, how to adapt to sudden changes and how to solve problems that don’t have an answer in the back of the book,” Chambers said.

Tushar Swamy and Bryan Chambers, currently employed by A123 Systems

Tushar Swamy, former energy storage group leader for Penn State EcoCAR and a current employee of A123 Systems, works with the lithium ion battery module design and development group.  Swamy works to better understand the characteristics of battery modules in order to modify the batteries and make them more efficient.

“Since the work I did for the competition is similar to what I do at A123 Systems, it is safe to say that EcoCAR provided a brilliant platform for my current work,” Swamy stated.

Three other Penn State graduates from the EcoCAR team recently began jobs working with one of EcoCAR’s headline sponsors, General Motors. Former Penn State drivetrain member Ben Koch started working at the GM powertrain testing site in Milford, Michigan in August. Currently, Koch is working with noise issues in hybrid systems in the Noise and Vibration Division.

“Many of the hybrid technologies are pretty new and are just coming to the market. Having dealt with the systems in the GM-donated vehicle during EcoCAR, I got a good understanding of many of the technologies involved,” Koch said.

Ben Koch in a Chevy Volt at his new job with General Motors in Milford, Michigan.

Marty Lechner is now an electrical performance engineer at GM

PSU EcoCAR alum Marty Lechner also started at GM in August as an electrical performance engineer. He is responsible for integrating a 12-volt system and validating vehicle software on the Chevy Volt. As a former auxiliary power unit group leader, Lechner acknowledged that he had previous experience through EcoCAR with many of the tools that he uses today on a day-to-day basis.

“My first week at GM was all an introduction to hybrids,” said Lechner, “I was so well prepared that I was actually able to explain some of the differences between the two-mode hybrid and an extended-range electric vehicle.”

GM’s newest employee from Penn State EcoCAR just graduated from Penn State in December. Picking up from where he left off as part of Penn State’s EcoCAR team, former controls group leader Todd Ace now works on optimizing the fuel and electricity usage for a new platform of hybrid vehicles.

Todd Ace continues to work with hybrid vehicles - for GM!

“Hybrids are becoming more and more complicated,” Ace said. “It takes teams of engineers to squeeze out the most fuel mileage while lowering emissions of newer vehicles. I wouldn’t know where to begin without my hands-on experience with EcoCAR.”

Although these alumni admit they miss everything about Penn State (from football games to all-nighters in the garage with the team), they all credit Penn State and EcoCAR for their recent career successes.  Without the hands-on experience provided by the competition, many of these individuals would not be where they are today.  Each one of them is an example of what hard work and commitment during college can do for a student’s career in the long run.  The Penn State EcoCAR team would like to congratulate these alumni on their newfound careers and wish them lots of future success!

Take a look at the video below to see how designing their EcoCAR vehicle has prepared Penn State team members for careers in automotive engineering.

Exposure to General Motors’ (GM) vehicle development process, as well as hands-on experience in vehicle design and integration, has given these students unparalleled training in their field. According to GM mentor Paul Shoytush, “If you want to work in the automotive industry, this is the best way to gain experience and to show the automotive industry what you can do.”

The Penn State vehicle, which uses a series architecture that incorporates B20 fuel into a diesel engine, took home 3^rd place at the EcoCAR Year Two Finals, and we can’t wait to see how the team does in Year Three!