Anthony Sardella didn’t always know about hybrid electric vehicles and green energy, but his involvement on the Penn State EcoCAR 2 team during his senior year opened his eyes to new opportunities that helped shape his career today.
“I joined the Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team because I wanted an opportunity to learn more about hybrid vehicles and how to make them more efficient,” said Sardella, a 2012 Penn State alum who works as a commissioning engineer for Atlas Copco Comptec, a company that specializes in integrally-geared centrifugal air and process gas compressors. He ensures equipment works to its specification, diagnoses and repairs faults, and supervises engineering and technical staff.
While a part of EcoCAR 2, Sardella was part of the mechanical team, which worked heavily on designing and fabricating components for the fuel system, power units and electric motor. Sardella explained that EcoCAR 2 provided him with essential knowledge that enabled him to dive right in to work after graduation.
“My job requires a lot of hands on and theoretical knowledge that the competition prepared me for,” said Sardella. “Even though I am not currently working in the automotive industry, my experience helped me tremendously with my position.”
Though the project required a remarkable amount of work, the long nights were worth it in the end. Sardella said EcoCAR 2 taught him valuable lessons about hybrid electric vehicles, and more importantly, about working on a team to complete challenging goals and deliverables.
