UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

Dr. Paul Puzinauskas’s research interests include internal-combustion-engine combustion, heat transfer and instrumentation research.

Currently, Dr. Puzinauskas and his students are working in three areas. The first is to improve optical combustion diagnostic capabilities and apply them to internal-combustion-engine analysis. The current focus of these efforts is a project funded by the National Science Foundation to develop a fiber-optic probe to simplify Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and Laser-Induced Incandescence in harsh environments. The second area is the optimization of internal-combustion engines used for hybrid electric vehicle applications, and the third is to improve the understanding of the combustion kinetics controlling emission formation in diesel-spray combustion.

Dr. Puzinauskas is also involved in a project for the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Fluid Mechanics with Analysis Using Computations and Experiments Program.

Dr. Hwan-Sik Yoon’s research interests include modeling, simulation and control of dynamic systems. His current research efforts are focused on vehicle powertrain systems, hybrid electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and the application of machine learning in automotive engineering. Some of the exemplary projects that Dr. Yoon’s research group has conducted include:

• Development of a high-fidelity engine modeling framework in Simulink.
• Vision-based estimation and control of excavator manipulator.
• Energy flow analysis tool development for conventional and hybrid electric vehicles.
• Time-to-failure determination for automotive system components using machine learning.

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Madison O’Brien is a second-year marketing major and is the communications manager for the team.

She joined EcoCAR in the 4^th year of the Mobility Challenge as the associate communications manager and took over the role of communications manager in the Spring of 2022 during the transition to the EcoCAR EV Challenge.

She has interned at BILSTEIN Shocks and is also a part of the professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi.

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Nik Collins is a graduate student studying mechanical engineering and joined UA EcoCAR in 2020 as a member of the Propulsion Controls and Modeling team. He helped develop the Hardware-in-the-Loop simulator before taking a research position through one of the team's local sponsors starting in the fall of 2021.

Through that year, Nik alos worked under the Propulsion System Integration lead before becoming the associate PSI lead in the spring of 2022. After finishing the competition, he took over as the System Design and Integration lead in the fall of 2022 and will likely hold this position through the rest of the EcoCAR EV Challenge.

Outside of EcoCAR, Nik is also a part of the Crimson Car Club.

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Corban Walsh is a graduate student pursing his master’s in business administration. He received his undergrad in aerospace engineering and joined EcoCAR in late 2022.

Prior to EcoCAR, Corban served Baja SAE as its  Suspension and Steering Design lead and as Engineering Manager.

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Lena Barrido is a fourth-year chemistry major also pursing her master’s in business administration. Lena joined the DEI team in spring 2023 and took over as Equity in Mobility Lead in Year 2 of the EV Challenge.

Prior to EcoCAR, Lena served as the vice president of inclusion for Pi Beta Phi and is currently the president of the Honors College at the University of Alabama. She has also been an Al’s Pals Mentor, a DCH Volunteer, undergraduate research assistant and Reading Allies Mentor. Lena has also interned at the Few Institute for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery as a Research Assistant and was a Hospital Intern at FLENI.

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Joey Westermeyer is a fourth-year aerospace engineering major and joined the UA EcoCAR team this year.

Prior to EcoCAR, Joey has had experience in Alabama Rocketry Association, Formula SAE and has interned at Area-I (now Anduril) as well as REGENT Craft as a flight software intern. At REGENT, he developed MATLAB/Simulink tools in a Gitlab CI/CD team environment at Y-combinator startup making seagliders.

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Sim Archer is a graduate student pursing his master’s in business administration and master’s in aerospace engineering. He received his undergrad degree in mechanical engineering and joined the UA EcoCAR team this year. Prior to EcoCAR, Sim was a part of the Formula SAE team and is in the MBA Association on campus. He was also a mechanical engineering intern at Textron GSE and Continuous Improvement Intern at Toyo Tires NA.

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Sahuj Mehta is a fourth-year student pursing an undergrad degree in computer science, philosophy, economics and math. He is simultaneously taking grad school and pursing a graduate degree in computer science and quantitative economics.

Sahuj has been a part of EcoCAR for 4 years and in addition to EcoCAR, has also been involved with the Culverhouse Investment Management Group, Management Consulting Academy, Student Government Association and Research Ambassadors.

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Kayla Hamilton is a Ph.D student studying electrical engineering. She joined the UA EcoCAR team in spring of 2018 during the end of EcoCAR 3 as an electrical team member.

With the introduction of CAV in the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge, Kayla served as the undergrad CAV associate lead during year 1 of the competition and worked intermittently on the team before taking over as the CAV lead year 4. She was the CAV lead in Year 1 of the EVC and is now continuing as engineering manager in Year 2.