Written by: David Gillespie
With the Year 4 Competition only months away, the UWAFT team is pushing hard to put the finishing touches on their competition vehicle. Important milestones lay just ahead in every swim-lane and everyone is feeling the pressure. With the finale year of the current series about to wrap-up, we thought it would be a good time for us to look back on someone who led the team through some of the team’s most challenging times.
At the end of Year 2, UWAFT lost precious weeks of work on their Blazer when suffering an electrical malfunction causing their battery to lose charge. The team then entered a strict lockdown due to the COVID 19 pandemic where they were unable to work on their vehicle. Once the university and garage began to safely reopen at the beginning of Year 3, Tim Er, the Year 3 Propulsion System Integration (PSI) Manager led a dedicated team to make headway with the limitations of working without a battery. With crucial help from Paul Boctor, Engineering Manager, and Asad Bhatti, Project Manager, the team scored first place at the Year 3 Competition for their PSI Presentation.
Following competition, the team was sad to see Tim go, but when he finished his thesis, he landed his dream job! Tim now works for Tesla as a chassis mechanical engineer. Tim said he couldn’t have done it without EcoCAR. According to Tim, “The experience I gained as the PSI manager on UWAFT definitely contributed to me qualifying for this position, where I currently develop suspension systems for some of best EV cars in the world!”
Automotive engineering has been an interest of Tim’s for a long time. Before Tim joined UWAFT he worked on University of Waterloo’s Formula SAE Team. On this team, he helped push UWAFT to new heights with his skill, flexibility, and confidence.
Tim is now excelling in his role and credits much of his success to EcoCAR.
