University of Nevada, Las Vegas & College of Southern Nevada
About
The University of Nevada Las Vegas, along with its vocational partner the College of Southern Nevada, is excited to participate in the first-ever Battery Workforce Challenge. The UNLV & CSN BattChallenge team compromises 20 engineering students, encompassing a wide variety of disciplines including mechanical, electrical, and entertainment and design engineering as well as computer science.
The team works diligently to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to deliver a custom designed battery pack, successfully integrating a full electric vehicle system. This process will include gaining hands-on experience in crucial areas such as design, testing and manufacturing processes. The team will also work to innovate in potential areas including form factor, structural integration, rechargeability, energy density, cost, durability, safety and modularity. Through this competition students are eager to attain new skills to be utilized as part of the future electric vehicle workforce.
The UNLV & CSN BattChallenge team's vision is for its institutions to play a critical role in the future of battery development in Nevada. As the crew proceeds through this challenge, it hope to further establish Las Vegas as a technology hub utilizing its rich battery-related resources and attract more connections to the corporate world through sponsorships and internships.
Mission
The UNLV & CSN Battery Workforce Challenge team’s mission is to build a welcoming, challenging and empowering partnership to prepare the future battery workforce needed for the expansion of electric vehicle demand. In support of making Nevada a leader for EV battery manufacturing and cleaning energy supply chains, this crew aims to take a critical role in training a knowledgeable, motivated and diverse workforce. These institutions aim to create an authentic sense of partnership and community, with a focus on accountability, teamwork and inclusion, and support student growth through hands-on experience with battery pack design, testing, manufacturing and integration.
Goals
The UNLV & CSN BattChallenge team strives to accomplish the following goals in year one of the three-year collegiate engineering competition. They include:
- Develop a team culture that promotes learning and growth from the team and encourages them to have an excellent time
- To be a competitive team within the competition and gain professional knowledge that can be executed outside of the Battery Workforce Challenge
- To foster professional connections within the electric vehicle and automotive industries alike
Team Members
Yahia Baghzouz
Lead Faculty Advisor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Brandon Benton
BattScholar University Liaison
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
James Bull
Vocational Faculty Advisor
College of Southern Nevada
Michael Flores
Lead Safety Advisor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Yessenia Henriquez
Communications Lead
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Glen Hortizuela
Vocational Faculty Advisor
College of Southern Nevada
Kamila Kinel
Recruitment, Retention and DEI Lead
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Jonathan Lazatin
Project Manager
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Keerthana Nampally
Engineering Manager
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Brendan O'Toole
Lead Faculty Advisor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Ryan Swell
Battery Pack Hardware Lead
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Travis Volpicelli
Vehicle Systems Integration Lead and BattScholar
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Dustin Wick
Business Development Lead
Argonne National Labratory
Tyler Zoutte
Battery Pack Software Lead
Argonne National Labratory
Get Involved
Are you interested in gaining hands on design, testing and fabrication skills? Are you excited about the future of electric vehicles? Curious to get an in-depth look into the manufacturing and integration of vehicle battery systems? Get involved with the UNLV & CSN BattChallenge team by joining our discord or by sending us an email at battchallenge@unlv.edu.
Students who have reached out will be contacted within the week. You can also stop by our weekly meetings held each Tuesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Thomas T. Beam Engineering Complex, room B-309.