For more than 25 years, Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions, like EcoCAR 3, have been the ultimate training ground for more than 16,500 North American university students interested in the automotive industry. Since Virginia Tech’s involvement in 1990, many team members have continued to work in the automotive industry, not just in engineering, but in business and communication as well!
The success of AVTCs and the graduates of the program would not be possible without the vital support of one of EcoCAR 3’s headline sponsors: the U.S. Department of Energy. In 1988, the DOE launched its first student vehicle competition in order to demonstrate and test technologies developed in its laboratories.
Steven Boyd, a technology development manager for the vehicle technologies program at DOE, was a participant in the FutureTruck and Challenge X competitions. “I think that this sort of impossible challenge creates really great engineers and students that are important not only to the U.S. Department of Energy, but the automotive industry as well.” Boyd said.
Check out the following video to hear more from Steven Boyd and importance of the DOE to HEVT!
