{"id":1857,"date":"2026-04-17T12:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/?p=1857"},"modified":"2026-07-24T13:08:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T17:08:42","slug":"ut-selected-for-ecocar-innovation-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/news\/ut-selected-for-ecocar-innovation-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"UT Selected for EcoCAR Innovation Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">University of Tennessee has been selected to\u00a0participate\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0EcoCAR\u00a0Innovation Challenge, a four-year\u00a0collegiate\u00a0competition\u00a0aimed at developing next-generation, energy-efficient and intelligent\u00a0mobility solutions using\u00a0emerging technologies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Administered by&nbsp;Argonne National Laboratory, the&nbsp;EcoCAR&nbsp;Innovation Challenge&nbsp;is the 15th installment of the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition (AVTC) series.&nbsp;The&nbsp;challenge&nbsp;aspires&nbsp;to&nbsp;push innovation and&nbsp;develop&nbsp;the future automotive workforce.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">UT was one of 20 universities from across North America selected for the latest installment of the competition, which runs from the fall of 2026&nbsp;through the&nbsp;spring of 2030. Since 1988, the Tickle College of Engineering has taken part in 11 of the AVTC events.&nbsp;Over that span, more than 1,000 UT students have&nbsp;participated&nbsp;in the unique design experience.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/top-20-ecocar-teams.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47236\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">UT will field a collaborative team of students from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) and the&nbsp;Min H. Kao&nbsp;Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).&nbsp;MAE Associate Professors&nbsp;Pingen&nbsp;Chen&nbsp;and&nbsp;Subhadeep&nbsp;Chakraborty, and&nbsp;EECS Gonzalez Family Professor&nbsp;Hairong&nbsp;Qi&nbsp;are&nbsp;the faculty&nbsp;advisors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Automakers General Motors&nbsp;and Stellantis are each sponsoring a separate competition track&nbsp;in the event&nbsp;to provide students with different engineering challenges and vehicle platforms that are designed to reflect real-world market choices. GM is supplying a 2026 Chevrolet Blazer EV and Stellantis is providing a 2026 Jeep Cherokee hybrid.&nbsp;UT was chosen for the Stellantis Track.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt the University of Tennessee, we integrate hands-on education with real-world engineering to prepare students for the future mobility workforce,\u201d Chen said. \u201cThrough the&nbsp;EcoCAR&nbsp;Innovation Challenge with Stellantis, our team will develop hybrid electrification and human\u2013machine interaction solutions that are technically rigorous and adaptable to diverse environments, including rural and off-road applications.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ut-ecocar-team.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47237\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;UT&nbsp;team&nbsp;will be&nbsp;tasked with developing&nbsp;next-generation, energy-efficient, and intelligent mobility solutions and innovative products from concept to potential commercialization.&nbsp;The&nbsp;students&nbsp;will&nbsp;utilize&nbsp;emerging technologies, such&nbsp;as AI\/ML and exascale computing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBeing part of&nbsp;EcoCAR&nbsp;gives me a unique chance to work hands-on with real vehicle systems while collaborating with a leading OEM,\u201d said&nbsp;team leader Adry Lain, a&nbsp;mechanical engineering&nbsp;PhD student. \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting way to bridge my research with real-world impact from the very start of my PhD.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width:100%\"><div style=\"width: 15%;height: 10px;margin: 40px 0 px;border-bottom: 6px solid #ff8200\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rhiannon Potkey (<a href=\"mailto:rpotkey@utk.edu\">rpotkey@utk.edu<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UT has been selected to\u00a0participate\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0EcoCAR\u00a0Innovation Challenge, a four-year\u00a0collegiate\u00a0competition\u00a0aimed at developing next-generation, energy-efficient and intelligent\u00a0mobility solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":1858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[384,7],"tags":[35,507,10],"class_list":["post-1857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","category-news","tag-ecocar","tag-pingen-chen","tag-subhadeep-chakraborty"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - 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