OR, SEE; EVTI.ORG *Dennis Lee Miles *
*E.V.T.I. Inc.* *Director/Chief Technology Officer:* *E-Mail:* *[email protected]* <[email protected]> *Phone #* *(863) 944-9913* * Office:* 33408 Trilby Road, Dade City, Florida 33523-6435 USA On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 4:03 AM, brucedp5 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > http://www.torquenews.com/2250/i-want-build-electric-cars-what-major-should-i-choose > I want to build electric cars - what major should I choose? > By Luke Ottaway 2014-03-15 > > Since there is not yet an "electric vehicles" major at institutions of > higher education, what should one study to prepare for a career in the > electric vehicle industry? > > I'm glad you asked. First we must clarify the meaning of the word "build" > in > this case. If you want to literally build electric cars, say as an > associate > at a Nissan Leaf plant, a good starting point would be a vocational or > technical college or trade school that offers training in electronics, > high-voltage circuits, electric motors, or similar. This type of education > is far cheaper than your classic four-year bachelor's degree program, and > will offer practical skills that can be applied as a technician in the EV > industry either building or servicing electric vehicles. > > If you want to be one of the people designing or improving electric > vehicles, then my recommendation would be an engineering degree. The > automotive industry is what we call multidisciplinary, meaning it spans a > wide range of relevant fields of knowledge. There are many types of > engineering that are applied to the development of electric vehicles. A > (likely incomplete) list follows: > > Electrical engineering, for anything from design of power electronics > (devices that convert AC electricity to DC to charge the battery, and then > back again to power the motor) to the high-voltage circuits present in > these > vehicles. This field also applies to electric vehicle charging and grid > integration, an often-overlooked aspect of electric vehicles. > > Computer or software engineering, because modern vehicles are incredibly > complex and require significant computer control to function properly. > Electric vehicles present unique challenges in this field not shared with > internal combustion vehicles. > > Controls engineering, which amounts to a combination of mathematical > modeling, electrical and computer/software engineering and is one of the > most important fields in vehicle development today. > > Chemical engineering, because the heart of the vehicle is the battery and > the need for improvement in battery technology is well-documented. > > Manufacturing or industrial engineering, because electric vehicles and > their > batteries present unique manufacturing challenges. For example, > lightweighting is important to vehicle efficiency which leads to > manufacturing innovations such as mass-produced carbon fiber-reinforced > plastic and stamped aluminum. > > Mechanical engineering, which can combine elements of several the > aforementioned engineering disciplines depending on the concentration > chosen. This field also specializes in things like mechanical power > transmission, such as transmitting the motor's rotational power efficiently > to the wheels; and thermal management, which is crucial for battery, motor, > and power electronics operation. > > Automotive engineering, an extremely broad field that allows specialization > in fields like vehicle dynamics, manufacturing, powertrain engineering, > controls, and more. There aren't many schools that have automotive > engineering, either undergraduate or graduate, but they're out there and > all > offer some concentration relevant to electric vehicles. > > > If any of the above sound interesting, I'd encourage you to do some > investigating on your own. Entering the electric vehicle industry > ultimately > amounts to learning in one or more disciplines that are relevant to a great > many fields, and then applying it to electric vehicles. Engineering in > particular teaches problem solving skills that can be universally applied. > Especially for interns or entry-level employees, companies like Tesla want > to hire motivated people who know how to solve problems; they aren't > necessarily concerned if you know exactly how to design a power inverter > upon arrival. > > To offer my own experience, I have a bachelor's degree in mechanical > engineering. When I graduated I decided I wanted to enter the electric > vehicle industry, so I went on to study automotive engineering at the > Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research. I am in a > graduate program called GATE, or Graduate Automotive Technology Education. > This is a program established at several schools around the country by the > U.S. Department of Energy to educate students in advanced vehicle > technologies applied to electric and fuel cell vehicles. This particular > program expires in a few years and may not be renewed, but hopefully the > political climate down the road will be amenable to continuing its support > of the GATE program. If not, many avenues remain that will lead you to a > promising and rewarding career working with electric vehicles if you so > choose. > [(c) torquenews.com] > > > > > For all EVLN posts use: > > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=evln&sort=date > > Here are today's archive-only EV posts: > > EVLN: Korean Battery Makers Rush to Build EV Battery Plants in China > EVLN: $1.6M CEC funds> convert UPS' & USPS' walk-in vans to electric > EVLN: EVSE @E-Mart, BMW-Group.kr & POSCO ICT infrastructure agreement > EVLN: i-MiEV support vehicle @WAVE 2014 rally 5/30-6/7 > EVLN: Taiwan firm building a 300/mo EV-making plant in Subic.ph > + > EVLN: Ford Electrified VP sez no dedicated EV > > > {brucedp.150m.com} > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-What-degrees-should-I-get-to-build-EVs-tp4668515.html > Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at > Nabble.com. > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20140318/b14f1b01/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
