The Georgia Tech EcoCAR 3 team placed fifth overall and won numerous top prizes at EcoCAR 3, a four-year student competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) and General Motors. This was the final year of the competition, which took place May 10-22 in Yuma, Arizona; Pomona, California; and Hollywood, California. 

Georgia Tech ended its run by taking fifth place overall and third place in the technical categories, and earning eight more awards that totaled $12,750. The team won the Mechanical Systems Presentation Award and the Control Systems Modeling & Simulation Presentation Award, marking the second year in a row that Georgia Tech has earned these honors at EcoCAR 3. 

The Georgia Tech team won the Best Project Status Presentation Award and the Second Place Project Management Award. The team also received the First Place ETAS ECU Excellence Award and the Second Place dSPACE Embedded Success Award. Jessica Britt, a master’s student in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), was presented with two honors–the Excellence in Leadership Award and the General Motors Women in Engineering Award.

The Georgia Tech team is part of the Vertically Integrated Projects Program and consists of about 50 undergraduate and graduate students from the Schools of ECE, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Computer Science. Fifteen students attended the competition, including five from ECE–Sterling Smith, Andrew Fillingim, Jessica Britt, Sungwoo Han and Andres Strulovic. All are ECE graduate students, with the exception of Andres, who is an undergraduate majoring in electrical engineering. The team's faculty advisors are ECE Professor David Taylor, ChBE Professor Tom Fuller, and ME Professor Mike Leamy. 

EcoCAR 3 required the 16 participating teams to design, build, and integrate their hybrid-electric designs into a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro, with the end goal of making the vehicle more energy-efficient without losing high-performance and safety features that Camaro buyers expect. Events began at GM’s Desert Proving Grounds in Yuma, where the Camaros were put through rigorous safety inspections. Upon passing inspections and competing in dynamic events, the teams moved to southern California for the second leg of the competition, where teams further tested their Camaros at the Auto Club Speedway. 

After the racetrack activities, teams presented to industry and government judges in six categories and for several sponsored awards in Pomona. Teams then hit the open road with a 150-mile road rally through Los Angeles County public roads, where the Camaros were scored in everyday city and highway driving applications and in fuel consumption. The EcoCAR 3 finale was held in Hollywood with a Media Ride and Drive event.

To learn more about the national EcoCAR 3 event, visit http://ecocar3.org. To learn more about the Georgia Tech EcoCAR team, visit http://www.vip.gatech.edu/teams/ecocar-collegiate-competition-team.

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The Georgia Tech EcoCAR 3 team proudly show the awards that they were earned on May 22. Photo courtesy of EcoCAR.

Jessica Britt (right) was presented with the Excellence in Leadership Award and the General Motors Women in Engineering Award. She is pictured with Cindy Svestka, senior manager of  Control System Engineering Process at General Motors. Photo courtesy of EcoCAR.

EcoCAR 3 pictured at Tech Square against the Atlanta skyline. Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech EcoCAR 3 team.

Georgia Tech EcoCAR 3 cruises the roads of Los Angeles County, California. Photo courtesy of EcoCAR.

The Georgia Tech EcoCAR 3 takes on the race track at the Auto Club Speedway. Photo courtesy of EcoCAR.