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New Ride: MSU Students to Transform Cadillac LYRIQ as Part of EcoCAR Competition

November 13, 2023

MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Provost David Shaw, center right, along with Vice President for Research and Economic Development Julie Jorden, left of car, are pictured with MSU's student EcoCAR Electric Vehicle Challenge team members, along with faculty advisors who will help guide the team during the prominent four-year competition to implement an all-electric powertrain and other cutting-edge features in a new Cadillac LYRIQ. The program develops students to become leaders in the automotive and related engineering fields. Photo by Grace Cockrell.
MSU President Mark E. Keenum and Provost David Shaw, center right, along with Vice President for Research and Economic Development Julie Jorden, left of car, are pictured with MSU's student EcoCAR Electric Vehicle Challenge team members, along with faculty advisors who will help guide the team during the prominent four-year competition to implement an all-electric powertrain and other cutting-edge features in a new Cadillac LYRIQ. The program develops students to become leaders in the automotive and related engineering fields. Photo by Grace Cockrell.
A new Cadillac is prowling the streets of Mississippi State University, but it is providing more than just a cool ride to a team of MSU students.

MSU's EcoCAR Electric Vehicle Challenge team officially unveiled its new Cadillac LYRIQ on Tuesday [Nov. 7] at the university's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems. The EcoCAR team has spent over a year developing designs to implement an all-electric powertrain, as well as connected and autonomous features into the vehicle. The interdisciplinary team of students will now implement these designs and compete against some of the top universities in the country beginning next May and through the remainder of the four-year competition.

"Our mission is to give students hands-on experience applying what they learn in the classroom in the real world through these industry-standard practices, processes and tools," said Timothy Wunrow, MSU EcoCAR project manager and a master's student in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. "Over the last 19 years, the MSU EcoCAR team has helped many students graduate with high-paying jobs in their chosen industry because the skills we learn here, such as how to communicate and how to solve problems, are transferable across the automotive industry and every other industry."

MSU has a long history of success in EcoCAR competitions, part of the Advanced Vehicle Technology Competitions sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and the MathWorks. MSU teams have won the national competition four times, and regularly receive high marks in the different categories they are judged on, ranging from the technical to communications and marketing.

"We've been part of EcoCAR since its inception, which makes us part of an elite group of universities in the nation that have the privilege and honor for our students to develop the vehicles of the future," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. "That is what we are doing right here today and that is what our students will be a part of over the next couple years of this competition. This is a unique experience that positions our students to go out into the world and be leaders in this field."

The MSU EcoCAR team is comprised of more than 60 students representing 13 different majors, including mechanical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, aerospace engineering, industrial and systems engineering, computer science, cyber security, business administration and more. The competition gives the students hands-on experience that positions them to excel in their career following graduation. EcoCAR boasts a 100% hire rate for graduate students and 98% hire rate for undergraduate students immediately after graduating.

In addition to developing the competition vehicle, the team will conduct K-12 outreach to help inspire the next generation of engineers. Additional non-technical efforts include a project addressing inequities in mobility, and communications and marketing campaigns.

For more on the EcoCAR EV challenge, visit https://avtcseries.org/about-the-ecocar-ev-challenge/. For more on MSU's EcoCAR team, visit Instagram @msuecocar.

By James Carskadon