Matthew Nelson has been a member of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) EcoEagles team for three years. He is a current undergraduate student at ERAU, studying mechanical engineering with a focus in high-performance vehicles. His original degree was aerospace engineering, but his experience in EcoCAR 2: Plugging In to the Future compelled him to change majors to mechanical engineering.
Since joining the ERAU EcoEagles team, Nelson has played an essential part of the controls team, eventually becoming the team lead over the past year. This experience has allowed him to begin his third internship with one of the competition sponsors, dSPACE, where he has worked on rapid control prototyping and demonstration units for the company to use at trade shows.
In his spare time, you can find him toying with his computer. He has constructed several computer systems, which conveniently tie into his current research project. Nelson is repurposing sensors and software to make their functions more efficient, and improve overall vehicle performance. Nelson eventually wants to work in control validation and platform testing in the automotive industry. Learn more about him in the video below.
