Georgia Tech EcoCAR EV Challenge

This week’s Team Member Tuesday is all about Ronald George! He is a fourth-year Computer Science student from Lawrenceville, GA. He is in his 3rd semester as an EcoCAR member and is currently on our CAVs team working on Human Machine Interface (HMI). His favorite part about EcoCAR is getting to work on all the cool technologies for the vehicle such as adaptive cruise control algorithms. Ronald credits EcoCAR with helping him develop troubleshooting skills in the SCC along with working collaboratively with others on the car. He is most looking forward to continuing his work on a functional touchscreen display for the vehicle and meeting new people on the team. Welcome back to the team, Ronald!

We had an amazing experience at the Y3 Fall Workshop last week! Thank you to the organizers, our sponsors, and MathWorks for hosting us! #Y3FallWorkshop #EcoCAREVChallenge

🎉 Huge congratulations to Mason Shackelford for his outstanding accomplishments! 🎉 Mason is our SDI (Systems and Design Integration) Undergraduate Lead and he has been part of EcoCAR for 3 years. His dedication and hard work have truly made a difference in our team and project outcomes. He is consistently going above and beyond and inspires us all to strive for excellence. We’re lucky to have you on the team, and we can’t wait to see what you achieve next! Keep shining! ✨👏 #TeamSuccess #Congratulations #Inspiration

🚙⚡️Exciting Internship Highlight from the GT EcoCAR Team! ⚡️🚙 Meet Mason Shackelford, our talented Quality Engineer intern at GM's Arlington Assembly in Texas! Over this past summer, Mason played a key role in identifying and addressing quality issues, enhancing production processes, and discovering emerging challenges in manufacturing. During this transformative experience, Mason learned the value of cross-departmental mobility at GM, making GM a fantastic place for those seeking diverse experiences. He also gained insights from team members who tackle issues head-on every day and discovered the importance of asking questions and offering help to truly understand the manufacturing process. Plus, Mason developed valuable skills in creating Excel Macros—something he enjoyed much more than anticipated! As Mason returns back to EcoCAR, he plans to apply his teamwork experience to know when to push his limits and when to seek guidance. Moreover, he plans to leverage his hands-on team collaboration skills and expertise in GD&T to guide our manufacturing processes. Mason is ready to contribute to our mission with fresh perspectives and a passion for innovation! Keep up the great work, Mason Shackelford! #EcoCAR #Internship #MechanicalEngineering #GM #Manufacturing #Teamwork #Innovation

GT EcoCAR is excited to be back to school and kick off Year 3 of the EcoCAR EV Challenge!! 🚙⚡️ Here’s to another year of innovation and teamwork. Let’s make it great! #Year3 #EcoCAREVChallenge #TeamPhoto

A little over a week ago, EcoCAR traveled to Arizona and competed with 13 other North American teams during the EcoCAR EV Challenge Year 2 competition. At the end of the first week of the competition, we were one of only two teams to have a running vehicle and received a standing ovation from the other teams as our car left the garage for the first time to run events. Throughout the final week, we showcased our dedication and expertise in various presentations, earning commendable placements: Natalia A. and Suhani M. excelled, securing 4th place in the Communications presentation. Braeden Dickson was outstanding, earning 3rd place in the Project Management presentation. Braeden Dickson and Eric Gustafson secured 2nd place in the Propulsion Controls and Modeling presentation. Our achievements didn't stop there! At the awards ceremony, we were honored to receive several accolades: Our engineering team's hard work paid off with the 2nd-best vehicle technical report last December. Sophie Ayoung-Chee's stellar performance earned her 1st place in the Community-Based Organization (CBO) Partnership Pitch. Laurence Leon and Eric Gustafson proudly claimed 1st place in the MathWorks Model-Based Design Presentation. Braeden Dickson's unwavering dedication was recognized with the Excellence in Leadership award, a testament to his remarkable commitment to our program over the last 5 years. And the crowning moment? We secured 2nd place overall this year! 🏆 Despite facing monumental challenges in both mechanics and software, our success wouldn't have been possible without the unwavering support from the GT Student Competition Center, the Invention Studio at Georgia Tech, and the Montgomery Machining Hall. We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey, cheering us on every step of the way. Together, let's continue to drive innovation and excellence 🚙⚡️ #EcoCAREVChallenge #EcoCAR #Innovation #Teamwork #Y2Competition

As the semester wraps up, we have our last Team Member Tuesday post of this Spring featuring Alba Garcia-Sarabia! Alba is a sophomore mechanical engineering student from Miami, Florida and is in her first semester on our Comms sub-team. She does a little bit of everything on the team, from helping design presentations to planning and attending outreach events. Alba is still unsure about her future career since she’s still determining which parts of her major she likes the most. By participating in EcoCAR, she has gained valuable skills to prepare her for any role she may take through experiences with communication in the technical and automotive industries. We’re glad you joined EcoCAR, Alba! #TeamMemberTuesday #Comms #GATech #EcoCAR #GATechEcoCAR #WomenInStem #MechanicalEngineering

GT EcoCAR is excited to highlight a member’s internship experience! This week’s member is Eric Gustafson, a fifth-year Mechanical Engineering major in our PCM subteam! Eric worked at MathWorks in Natick, Massachusetts as an EDG Intern in the Simulink Test Toolbox Team in summer 2023. He worked as a quality engineer and developed test cases for a feature in the Simulink Test Sequence block. He also developed an initial application for converting C++ Google Tests to MathWorks Polyspace test xUnit framework. Throughout the internship, Eric learned about MathWorks, software engineering, unit testing, Simulink, MATLAB, Compiler libraries, and the Qt GUI library. As a member of the PCM team here at EcoCAR, Eric directly uses MATLAB and  Simulink while also applying principles of unit testing for coding, teaching others how to use it, and getting more familiar with the Qt GUI framework. His experience has given him a good perspective of how he can use his skills to further contribute to the GT EcoCAR team. Keep up the great work, Eric Gustafson! #EcoCAREVChallenge  #EcoCAR #MechanicalEngineering  #summerinternship  #workexperience  #MathWorks #Simulink #MATLAB

Take a quick break from finals with this week’s Team Member Tuesday featuring Camryn Osofsky! Camryn is a sophomore computer engineering student from Rumson, New Jersey and is in her second semester on our PCM sub-team. She completes a lot of unit test cases in her role on the team, and she loves to learn things in EcoCAR that aren’t necessarily taught in the classroom. In the future, Camryn wants to pursue a career where she uses technology to aid efforts in sustainability. By participating in EcoCAR, she has gained valuable experience to prepare her for this by learning how skills taught in the classroom can be used for real-life scenarios and applications. Thanks for returning to GT EcoCAR, Camryn! #TeamMemberTuesday #PCM #GATech #EcoCAR #GATechEcoCAR #WomenInStem #ComputerEngineering

We might only have a month left this semester, but EcoCAR is still going strong! For Team Member Tuesday this week, we are highlighting Kitso Mapini! Kitso is a junior mechanical engineering student from Botswana and a new member of our SDI sub-team. In his role, he’s currently working on design and manufacturing tasks, and he’s excited to see the final product when the LYRIQ is complete. His favorite parts of EcoCAR, since joining the team, are the people and the learning opportunities. Kitso plans on working in robotics and/or automotive engineering for his future career, and EcoCAR is the perfect place to help him develop skills for this area. On our team, he is able to learn valuable technical skills in automotive engineering, experience working in a team with tasks and deadlines, and give professional presentations. Thanks for joining the team, Kitso! #TeamMemberTuesday #SDI #GATech #EcoCAR #GATechEcoCAR #MechanicalEngineering