Last week the EcoCAR 3 Faculty Advisory Board (FAB) met with the EcoCAR organizers for two days in Daytona Beach, Florida at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) to provide input for the competition. These meetings help the organizers provide the best educational experience possible for students and keep the competition running smoothly.
The four faculty advisors discussed many topics with the EcoCAR Operations Steering Committee and took a tour of the ERAU Campus. The FAB had the opportunity to provide feedback from the first half of Year 4, as well as carefully review each description for every scored event that will take place during the competition in May. This year the competition will involve events in three cities and an over-the-road portion, so preparation for the event is key to a team’s success.
According to AVTC Technical Project Manager and EcoCAR 3 Organizer, Jesse Alley, “The FAB members offer valuable input from the team perspective to help us develop the best competition events possible. Their feedback allows us to better evaluate the capabilities of the teams and understand what activities are most valuable to pursue. Having that team perspective helps us create a competition where teams are set up to succeed.” He added, “Having the academic perspective from the FAB is an important part of our competition rules and event development process to enrich the learning experience of the students; which is ultimately the goal: to train the next generation of automotive engineers.”
FAB members for Year 4 of the competition include Thomas Bradley, Faculty Advisor for the Colorado State team; Brian Fabien, Faculty Advisor for the University of Washington team; Andrew Nix, Faculty Advisor for the West Virginia University team; and Doug Nelson, Faculty Advisor for the Virginia Tech team. The FAB was joined by ERAU faculty advisor, Patrick Currier, and Industry Advisor, Dave Spitzer, who hosted the meetings on the ERAU campus.
A special thank you to the FAB members for the additional time and work dedicated to make EcoCAR a success!
