EcoCAR 3: Advancing STEM Education, Innovation, Diversity and Outreach through Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions

美国能源部先进车辆技术竞赛(AVTC)项目每年为数千名学生提供机会，以解决我们国家的能源和交通挑战。最新的avtc系列EcoCAR 3要求16所大学重新设计一款雪佛兰Camaro，以减少其对环境的影响，同时保持这款标志性的美国汽车的预期性能。在为期四年的计划中，EcoCAR 3团队将遵循真实世界的车辆开发流程，作为设计、制造和改进其先进技术车辆的工程流程的路线图。独特的实际工程经验为见习工程师提供了实践研究和开发尖端汽车推进、燃料、材料和排放控制技术。大赛由美国能源部、通用汽车和其他二十多家政府和行业领袖赞助，不仅培养出顶尖的工程人才，还加快了创新、先进汽车技术的开发和示范，这些技术有助于减少我们国家对外国石油的依赖，使我们能够在全球范围内具有竞争力。这笔NSF赠款将支持EcoCAR 3竞赛的四个领域：NSF杰出教师顾问奖、NSF工程多样性奖、NSF创新倡议赠款和奖项，以及现场竞赛费用。NSF杰出教师顾问奖表彰杰出的EcoCAR教师顾问，他们成功地将EcoCAR的目标、目的和活动整合到工程课程中，并将成功的汽车工程设计过程融入到他们的大学工程课程中。NSF工程多样性奖表彰那些成功地针对女性和代表性不足的少数族裔制定招聘计划、展示包容文化和/或建立积极网络的团队，这些网络反过来将吸引不同的团队成员。NSF创新计划拨款和奖励将支持和表彰在新兴领域的创新研发活动中取得的成就，如能源效率、车辆性能、消费者可接受性或排放。对竞赛费用的支持将有助于实现年度面对面的EcoCAR 3竞赛，该竞赛提供机会，在EcoCAR 3项目的三个学年结束时对学生设计的先进技术车辆进行公开演示和评估。

The DOE Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) program provides opportunity to thousands of students annually to solve our nation's energy and transportation challenges. The latest AVTC series, EcoCAR 3, tasks 16 universities to re-engineer a Chevrolet Camaro to reduce its environmental impact while maintaining the performance expected from this iconic American car. During the four-year program, EcoCAR 3 teams will follow a real-world Vehicle Development Process that will serve as a roadmap for the engineering process of designing, building and refining their advanced technology vehicles. The unique real-world engineering experience provides student engineers with hands-on research and development with leading-edge automotive propulsion, fuels, materials and emission-control technologies. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and more than two dozen other government and industry leaders, the competition not only produces top engineering talent, but also accelerates the development and demonstration of innovative, advanced vehicle technologies that help reduceour nation's dependence on foreign oil and enable us to be competitive globally. This NSF grant will support four areas of the EcoCAR 3 competition: the NSF Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, the NSF Diversity in Engineering Awards, the NSF Innovation Initiative grants and awards, and on-site competition expenses. The NSF Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award recognizes outstanding EcoCAR Faculty Advisors who have successfully integrated EcoCAR goals, objectives and activities into the engineering curriculum and fostered a successful automotive engineering design process into their university engineering programs. The NSF Diversity in Engineering Awards recognize teams who develop successful recruiting initiatives directed toward women and underrepresented minorities, demonstrate a culture of inclusion, and/or establish a positive network that will, in turn, attract a diverse group of team members. The NSF Innovation Initiative grants and awards will enable and recognize achievement in innovative research and development activities in emerging areas such as energy efficiency, vehicle performance, consumer acceptability or emissions. Support for the competition expenses will help to enable the annual face-to-face EcoCAR 3 competition that provides the opportunity for the public demonstration and evaluation of the student-designed advanced technology vehicles at the conclusion of each of the three academic years of the EcoCAR 3 program.