To kick off the Spring semester, EcoCAR 2 organizers from Argonne National Laboratory and General Motors visited the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) for the Spring 2014 Faculty Advisory Board (FAB) meeting.
Over the three-day weekend, the FAB discussed plans for the upcoming Emissions Testing Event in March, as well as static and dynamic events at the Year Three competition. The FAB also had a chance to provide feedback on areas of the EcoCAR 3 competition, including the technical scope of the new series, associated swim lanes and the four-year vehicle development process timeline.
EcoCAR 2 organizers and the FAB at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus“The UTK EcoCAR 2 team was pleased to host the FAB meeting on our campus,” said faculty advisor Dr. David Irick. “When not in FAB meetings, organizers had a chance to sit down with key university administrators at UTK to discuss the EcoCAR program and its value to the university, students, and sponsors.”
AVTC Program Director Kristen De La Rosa was able to meet with Provost Dr. Susan Martin to discuss UTK’s participation in AVTCs, which dates back to the first Methanol Marathon in 1989. General Motors’ Technical Lead Emeritus Cindy Svestka joined Kristen for meetings with the Deans of Engineering, Business Administration, and Communication and Information – Dr. Wayne Davis, Dr. Stephen Mangum, and Dr. Michael Wirth, respectively. Those discussions centered around the multi-disciplinary focus of AVTCs and how to increase involvement from their colleges.
The UTK EcoCAR 2 team was also able to sit down with organizers for some quality discussion time. “The meetings provided the team with a wonderful opportunity to get to know organizers better and to ask questions about deliverables. This will be valuable throughout the year as lines of communication further opened. In a fast-paced world full of emails and conference calls, it is nice to be able to slow down and talk face-to-face,” said UTK Communication Manager Sarah Zimmerman.
After the weekend meetings, the FAB and EcoCAR 2 organizers had the chance to tour UTK’s garage and the Knoxville campus.
