Written by: Sam Victor
Dr. Patrick Currier, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) EcoCAR EcoEagles Team Faculty Advisor, holds a MS and PhD from Virginia Tech in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in robotics. Recently, Dr. Currier has been promoted from Associate Professor to Professor at ERAU. Additionally, he is the Associate Chair for the Mechanical Engineering Department at ERAU and has served on the EcoCAR Faculty Advisory Board for more than four years. He first joined the ERAU EcoEagles in 2013 as the Lead Faculty Advisor for EcoCAR 2 Year 3. Since joining, he has been leading the EcoEagles to success throughout 3 consecutive EcoCAR competitions.
Dr. Currier has an impressive reputation amongst his students and EcoCAR team members. The EcoEagles have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for him as he pushes us every day to learn and work hard while providing a guiding hand when needed.
Perhaps the crowning achievement to date of Dr. Currier’s EcoCAR journey was his nomination earlier this year for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Outstanding Faculty Advisor award. Dr. Currier is a prime example of someone who is passionate not only about his work but someone who genuinely cares about his students and provides them the resources and learning environment necessary to foster success.
Beyond the EcoCAR team, he has brought the EcoCAR learning experience to all undergraduate seniors by integrating EcoCAR into undergraduate engineering classes. Dr. Currier has allowed senior design students in mechanical engineering to choose EcoCAR as an option for their senior practicum class and allow them to learn the same concepts in the classroom that EcoCAR team members get to experience. We appreciate Dr. Currier’s hard work every day and look forward to having him as a leader for many years to come.
