WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
About
West Virginia University has competed in Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions (AVTCs) since they began in 1988 with the Methanol Marathon. After participating in 10 of the past AVTCs, the West Virginia University EcoCAR team is ready to use their experiences from previous competitions to compete in the latest AVTC: the EcoCAR EV Challenge.
Made up of over 80 undergraduate and graduate students majoring in different fields such as engineering, computer science, business and communications, the WVU EcoCAR team is prepared to modify the electric architecture of the 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ to promote improved efficiency and functionality and implement connected and automotive vehicle (CAVs) systems.
Mission
West Virginia University EcoCAR focuses on bringing together a diverse team consisting of faculty members, graduate, and undergraduate students to guide and sharpen technical skills. Incorporating the competition’s vision as well as improving soft skills helps students engage and prepare for professional work environments, allowing our team to advance towards our goal of increased automotive job placement. Improving the team’s ability to work in diverse environments will produce more opportunity for engagement with underrepresented communities, which will be the focus of most of the planned outreach events in Year 1. Additionally, the WVU team plans to define our success by placing in the top five teams at the end of each year’s competition.
WVU EcoCAR’s SDI team plans to emphasize the importance of integrating additional electrical powertrain components for improved performance and efficiency. An advanced energy management strategy developed by WVU’s Controls and Modeling team will allow the team to take full advantage of the LYRIQ’s electrical powertrain to achieve the target market’s desired performance.
WVU EcoCAR’s CAVs team plans to create the groundwork for developing a 360-degree view of the LYRIQ’s surroundings to autonomously navigate in city and highway environments using adaptive cruise control and lane centering control.
To expand STEM education, the team hosts students at the WVU EcoCAR garage and travels to different communities in rural West Virginia with limited educational access to present information about the competition, create a relationship with the entire state, and provide educational information for the youth to explore and learn about electric vehicles along with other new technologies.
The team is also putting an emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the EV Challenge by traveling to underrepresented communities to introduce the importance of STEM education and partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) near the Morgantown area. WVU EcoCAR has begun communication with Morgan State University located in Baltimore, Maryland, and are planning to allow students from their university to participate on our team.
EcoCAR provides WVU students the opportunity to experience an innovative team dynamic that is invaluable to their future careers with hands-on experience and exposure to cutting edge hardware and software tools used by industry.
The team leadership consists of faculty advisors and graduate and undergraduate students that lead the team every year.
Goals
- Improve professional presentation skills in regards to final competition.
- Increase diversity through outreach events and collaborations with HBCUs in or near the Morgantown area.
- Place in the first quartile for reports, presentations, and other relatively scored deliverables for Year 1.
Team Members
GET InvolveD
Students can volunteer with WVU EcoCAR starting as a freshman and then once they reach sophomore status, they can begin earning course credit through the university in technical elective and Senior Capstone Design courses. The team meets every Monday and Wednesday for class from 2 p.m.-4:40 p.m. in the EcoCAR labs (Engineering Sciences Building G-15/G-18/G-20).
Contact Information
Address
395 Evansdale Drive Morgantown, WV 26505
