By Em Jankauski
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Clemson University & Greenville Technical College’s BattChallenge team welcomed home its RAM ProMaster EV, donated by competition co-sponsor Stellantis’ Micky Bly and Mark Champine. The senior vice presidents and heads of global propulsion systems and North America engineering technical centers, respectively, handed over the keys during a Feb. 28 media event held at the Center for Manufacturing Innovation on Greenville Technical College’s Greenville, S.C. campus.
“Today’s a really proud day, and behalf of Stellantis, my partner Micky Bly and myself, we’re extremely excited to be here and proud,” Champine said. “What’s great about today is we’re connecting engineers to product, and you’ve got the opportunity to take theory and connect it to practice.”
By donating these vehicles from RAM, Stellantis hopes to make all the difference in not just the future battery workforce, but everyday communities.
“All of us have Amazon, all of us have UPS, all of us have these (delivery) vehicles in our neighborhood every day,” Bly said. “By making them electric, it’s just a different way of thinking about how this electrical vehicle movement can go forward.”
Kristen Wahl, Argonne National Laboratory’s Sustainable Transportation Education and Partnerships director, emceed the event, acknowledging what a huge milestone the day marked for the South Carolina-based team.
“These teams, with one located right here in your backyard, are laying the foundation of the future battery workforce,” Wahl said. “We truly couldn’t be prouder to have this team collaborate with us as we ready the future battery workforce.”
For Clemson University automotive engineering doctoral student Saroj Paudel, who’s the team’s engineering manager who’s been with the three-year competition since its inception in 2023, the day was the perfect opportunity to celebrate all the team’s successes that have led to this moment.
“We’ve been doing all the work with the simulations, and now we have the real vehicle that lets us do whatever we’ve done so far and implement it in the vehicle,” Paudel said. “(What) a wonderful opportunity to have a real-world experience working with an EV battery pack.”
For Terell Gamble, a Greenville Technical College industrial electricity undergrad student, the van’s delivery is a full-circle moment.
“This project has been challenging as we’ve gone through obstacles, but it has been exciting to come up with solutions together,” Gamble said. “We cannot wait to get started working on the van. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish together.”
Jianfeng (Jeff) Zhang, Clemson University Department of Automotive Engineering associate professor, was thrilled for the big moment to finally arrive, acknowledging how this donation helps his team get in touch with real-world industry products.
“This is our biggest day here,” Zhang said. “Today we’re extremely excited to receive the vehicle because this provides us a great opportunity to do real-world work.”
Maurice Grady, Greenville Technical College’s School of Advanced Manufacturing and Transportation Technology academic program director and instructor for the college’s industrial electricity and HVAC programs, couldn’t agree more, adding that the van presents an excellent opportunity for his team members to ready themselves for the future battery workforce.
“The students of our teams are top-notch, applying their skills and knowledge to project that we will shape the future of automotive technology,” Grady said.
