Automotive Research

Alumni Spotlight on Brian Gebby

herr.40@osu.edu — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:29:36 +0000

Alumni Spotlight on Brian Gebby herr.40@osu.edu Posted: September 9, 2026

Alumni Spotlight on Brian Gebby

Posted: September 9, 2026

Celebrating the continued success of our CAR alumni

Gebby (right) with Professor Giorgio Rizzoni

Meet Brian Gebby, a proud Buckeye who got his start in start-ups at CAR!

What first brought you to CAR, and what is your favorite memory from your time here?
“When Time Warner Cable company donated the building (current CAR) to Ohio State, I was working part-time in the Gear Lab for Professor Donald Houser, the first chair of CAR.  I was also a member of Professor Rizzoni's first electric vehicle racing team, Formula Lightning. The roof leaked in some places and some of the rooms needed a lot of sprucing up but it felt like joining a startup company.  You could feel that great things were going to happen there!”

If you could describe the atmosphere or culture at CAR during your student days in just three words, what would they be?
“Limitless, exciting, startup”

Was there a specific project that defined your CAR experience?
“The Formula Lightning team from 1994-1995. It was the first ground-up startup project I ever worked on in my life.”

Who was a mentor, professor or teammate at CAR who made a lasting impact on you?
“Professor Giorgio Rizzoni introduced me to Mr. Thomas Moore, senior vice president of Research and Development at Chrysler Corporation in 1997, and from there I got my start in the automotive industry.”

How did your hands-on experience at CAR prepare you for the realities of the automotive/engineering industry?
“It is because of CAR that I learned the excitement of a startup atmosphere and the value of putting in the extra time in my work and triple-checking the details in everything that I do.  Because of CAR, Professor Rizzoni introduced me to Mr. Moore, and my automotive life began.”

What was your very first job after graduation, and how did your CAR background help you land it or excel in it?
“My first job after graduation was a simulation engineer for Black & Veatch Engineers and Architects of Kansas City, Missouri. At the time it was the largest private engineering and construction "E&C" company in the United States.  But my automotive career started two years later and it continued for 30 years.”

What does your current role look like, and what is a recent project you are proud of?
“I recently transitioned to the defense industry, but the most recent project I can say was the Jeep Wrangler Hybrid 4xe, which I own! I worked on the software for the engine control unit and I'm proud of how much gas it saves!”

What is the most valuable professional lesson you learned at CAR that you still use today?
“When a simulation is right, the results will stand on its own merit. This means that I learned to put in the time to run the simulations until I understood the system I was engineering.”

What advice would you give to a student currently walking into CAR for their first semester?
“CAR has no limits to what you can accomplish. Walk the halls, read the research and meet the people in the student projects back building. Leave your comfort zone behind and jump into research that pushes you farther than you expected. Do the hard work of writing the grant proposals and presenting your ideas and research.”

What makes you proudest to be an Ohio State alumnus?
“I am a member of the Ohio State Alumni Club of Detroit, an alumni club started in 1969 in Detroit, Xichigan.  I've learned that there are thousands of Buckeyes like me behind enemy lines, and we have been lucky enough to start an endowment in the name of our past President James Vanderbrink to send the smartest young people from Xichigan to the best school in the country.”

Category: Alumni

Tag: 35thalumni

Kassas Elected to the IEEE AESS Board of Governors

herr.40@osu.edu — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 12:59:52 +0000

Kassas Elected to the IEEE AESS Board of Governors herr.40@osu.edu Posted: September 9, 2026

Kassas Elected to the IEEE AESS Board of Governors

Posted: September 9, 2026

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Kassas’ election is an attestation to his stature within AESS and confirms his commitment to the progress of the society through his ongoing work with AESS' areas of research at large. His continued support and involvement with the AESS make him the ideal individual for this role. This year, Kassas and his students won three of IEEE AESS’ prestigious awards: , which was , which was

Professor Zak Kassas is the TRC Endowed Chair in Intelligent Transportation Systems and a Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at The Ohio State University. He is the Director of the Autonomous Systems Perception, Intelligence, and Navigation (

The IEEE AESS is dedicated to the engineering, design, development, integration, and operation of complex systems across space, air, ocean, and ground environments. These systems encompass navigation, avionics, mobile electric power and electronics, radar, sonar, telemetry, military and law enforcement applications, automatic testing, simulators, and command and control.

Categories: Faculty Awards

Faculty mentor students through SURE Program

herr.40@osu.edu — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:36:21 +0000

Faculty mentor students through SURE Program herr.40@osu.edu Posted: September 4, 2026

Faculty mentor students through SURE Program

Posted: September 4, 2026

Hui and D'Arpino at the SURE poster session.

Over the summer Assistant Professor Matilde D’Arpino, Professor Giorgio Rizzoni and Professor Shawn Mohler hosted students as part of the

Gao and D'Arpino at the SURE poster session.

Electrical and Computer Engineering student Junxiong Hui’s research focused on practical state-of-charge estimation for vehicle battery packs. What surprised him most was how much he still had to learn about research. “In the past, I thought research was mainly about conducting experiments. Through this project, however, I learned that research also involves understanding the knowledge and experience of previous researchers, identifying a clear research question and turning an abstract problem into a model and measurable data that can be analyzed.”

The students agree that the experience was one they found incredibly valuable. “I would especially recommend the SURE Program to students who are interested in research but aren’t sure yet whether they want to pursue graduate school or a research career,” says Gao. “The program gives you enough time to really experience what research is like, work closely with faculty and other researchers and produce something that is genuinely your own. I think it’s a great opportunity to develop both technical skills and confidence in doing independent work.”

Categories: Outreach Research Faculty

Alumni Spotlight on Kris Sevel

herr.40@osu.edu — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 17:58:39 +0000

Alumni Spotlight on Kris Sevel herr.40@osu.edu Posted: August 25, 2026

Alumni Spotlight on Kris Sevel

Posted: August 25, 2026

Celebrating the continued success of our CAR alumni

Sevel with his FutureTruck teamates

Meet Kris Sevel, a Buckeye who pursed his passion for automotive technology with the ChallengeX Student Motorsports program.

What first brought you to CAR, and what is your favorite memory from your time here? 

“Towards the end of my undergraduate degree I decided I developed a passion for advanced technology in the automotive industry and decided I needed to further my education to give me the right skillset to point my career in this direction. I took a tour of Ohio State and met many professors including Professor Rizzoni. After a few discussions I decided to come to CAR and focus my master’s work on a project on the ChallengeX program. My favorite memory was our trip to the GM desert proving grounds for Year 2 Competition. We not only competed well but had a lot of fun together as a team.

If you could describe the atmosphere or culture at CAR during your student days in just three words, what would they be?

“Teamwork, learning, growing.”

Was there a specific project, vehicle build, or late-night breakthrough that defined your CAR experience?  

“I worked on implementing a belted starter/generator on our competition car. After months of work integrating and implementing the hardware and controls, I recall very clearly the first time I was in the parking lot late at night and got the start/stop function working for the first time.”

Who was a mentor, professor or teammate at CAR who made a lasting impact on you? 

“I learned a ton from Professor Shawn Midlam-Mohler, who was not officially part of the program at the time but was always willing to provide advice and expertise from his experience on the FutureTruck team.”

How did your hands-on experience at CAR prepare you for the realities of the automotive/engineering industry? 

Kris Sevel

“I learned a wide variety of the challenges implementing a hybrid system into an existing vehicle architecture, which was immediately applicable at General Motors (GM). The knowledge I gained from how all the parts in the system work together built a foundation for me that I still rely on today.”

What was your very first job after graduation, and how did your CAR background help you land it or excel in it? 

“I went to GM after I graduated. I was able to interview through a path provided by the ChallengeX program. My experience in the ChallengeX program was able to give me an edge in getting the job and hitting the ground running when I joined. I was immediately able to contribute to building a test bench and testing power electronics and motors leveraging my CAR experience.”

What does your current role look like, and what is a recent project you are proud of? 

“I currently manage a team of engineers that designs the propulsion system architectures for electrified vehicles. I am extremely proud of architecting the Ultium platform which was the propulsion foundation of the series of EVs starting with the Cadillac Lyriq.”

What is the most valuable professional lesson you learned at CAR that you still use today? 

“I learned that in order to get things done you need to take initiative, drive and own an action plan, rather than simply waiting on others to do their part.”

What advice would you give to a student currently walking into CAR for their first semester? 

“There are tremendous resources around you to become a great engineer. The key is to take initiative to take advantage of them and drive yourself to keep learning through contributing to your project.”

What makes you proudest to be a CAR  alumnus? 

“When I was team leader for ChallengeX we didn’t win, but we were the top scoring vehicle with an automatic transmission which we felt was the best customer facing choice. We also managed to win best NVH even though we had a diesel engine! I also feel the culture we built as a team contributed to setting Ohio State up for continued success in future EcoCar competitions!”

Category: Alumni

Tag: 35thalumni

Intersection Safety Challenge

herr.40@osu.edu — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 13:06:43 +0000

Intersection Safety Challenge herr.40@osu.edu Posted: August 24, 2026

Intersection Safety Challenge

Posted: August 24, 2026

From left, Research Associate Ekim Yurtsever, CAR Director Giorgio Rizzoni and Applied Research Engineer Michele Giuliani

As winners of this national Challenge, a research team at CAR proposed an Intersection System that enhances the safety of all road users by combining multi-sensor fusion, perception, AI, machine learning and active warning methodologies. The system will detect, localize and classify vehicles and road users simultaneously. Further, it will predict the movements or trajectories of all those elements in real-time and identify potential conflicts and unsafe conditions. An active warning system will utilize wireless communication and audio-visual cues to alert roadusers in dangerous situations.

Learn more about this innovative project.

Science of Transportation

Professor Giorgio Rizzoni participated in the Science of Transportation, a national showcase event held in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2026, and hosted by The Science Coalition (TSC). The event brought together over 130 academic, industry and government leaders to highlight how federally funded university research drives safety, resilience and advanced materials in U.S.

Categories: Research Faculty Awards

Summer interns gain hands-on experience

herr.40@osu.edu — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 16:15:42 +0000

Summer interns gain hands-on experience herr.40@osu.edu Posted: August 19, 2026

Summer interns gain hands-on experience

Posted: August 19, 2026

If you stopped by CAR this summer, you would likely have seen some new faces. A number of college students spent their summer at CAR, gaining experience in automotive engineering.

Mastrogiorgio (5th from left) during a trip to Dayton with his CAR colleagues.

Gabriel Mastrogiorgio worked as a data analyst, focusing on developing machine learning models to help solve several tasks. “Even though I am not an engineer, working with a team of other PhD and graduate students gave me the opportunity to learn a lot in that area,” says Mastrogiorgio who gained real world experience working on industry related projects.

“Initially, I felt a bit scared because this was my first work experience, but I was followed up on every step on my first two weeks by Professor D'Arpino. She is a great leader who helped me organize all my work and set important weekly goals,” he says. “After one month my team and I had already started presenting updates to industry, which I consider my first breakthrough. I remember feeling really proud of that small success!”

Mastrogiorgio says his internship experience makes him feel well prepared for the job market, having knowledge of how companies work and how they achieve goals.

His time at CAR was not only professionally enjoyable, but personally as well. “I came from Chicago but as an international student and I felt really integrated into the international environment at CAR,” he says. “I met people from all around the world whom I can now call friends; they helped me feel a bit at home as well. Watching the World Cup together was a great experience, I'll never forget that summer!”

“Overall, I strongly suggest that graduate and undergraduate students pursue this kind of experience at CAR because it is not just a place to learn technical skills, but also a place that concretely builds you as a person,” says Mastrogiorgio.

Jiang in CARs Fuel Cell Lab

Chongxiao Jiang spent his summer in CAR’s new Fuel Cell Lab working with PhD student Kontorn Thammakul. Through data collection and teamwork, Jiang played a pivotal role in solving a longstanding issue within the lab.

Jiang says, “the most valuable thing I learned is how to construct communication between equipment and PC.”

Graham Nelson could be found in the Driving Dynamic Lab over the summer integrating a MoTeC i2 data stream from the Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) simulator. This technology allows for files of each run on the DiL to be logged and formatted properly for data analysis.

Nelson, testing out the driving simulator in the Driving Dynamics Lab.

“I also aligned variable names for all things we wish to run on our actual car for testing, making sure those variables exist in CarSim so we can refine our model to our real-world car,” says Nelson. “The hope is to be able to refine our model so it is as close as we can get it to be to our actual car. Then we can test smaller things in the DiL before testing days for the car to define a test plan and ensure all systems are the car are behaving as intended.”

CAR hosts a limited number of summer internships for undergraduate and graduate students each summer. Positions are typically posted in early February on our website.

Categories: Outreach Students Research

Camp CAR introduces high school students to automotive engineering and mobility

herr.40@osu.edu — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 17:59:25 +0000

Camp CAR introduces high school students to automotive engineering and mobility herr.40@osu.edu Posted: August 5, 2026

Camp CAR introduces high school students to automotive engineering and mobility

Posted: August 5, 2026

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) along with the Honda-Ohio State Partnership hosted 24 high school students at Camp CAR, a weeklong summer day camp where participants learned about various aspects of automotive engineering and mobility including simulation, testing and manufacturing.

Camp CAR brought high school students from nine US states and Ontario, Canada to Ohio State, with opportunities for their families to learn more about CAR and what the campers experienced via facility tours.

"At Camp CAR, we set out to bridge the gap between classroom concepts and physical execution,” says Student Motorsports Shop Supervisor Max Wright. “By giving these students direct access to real machines, advanced research labs and hands-on fabrication, we hope they leave with a genuine sense of pride in their work and the inspiration to push the boundaries of mechanical and automotive design."

Camp CAR participants at Meyer Shank racing

The students were treated to an exclusive tour of the world’s most advanced wind tunnel at the Honda Automotive Laboratories of Ohio (HALO) facility, located at the Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC). The wind tunnel serves three separate state-of-the art testing functions — aerodynamics, aeroacoustics and racing. The group also toured TRC where they visited the facilities and learned about the many ways TRC is utilized by automotive manufacturers.

Additionally, the campers visited Meyer Shank Racing and had the opportunity to see the winning race car from the 2026 Indianapolis 500!

Another field trip brought the group to Ohio State’s main campus, where they learned about high voltage electronics at the College of Engineering’s High Voltage Lab and witnessed a demonstration using various high-power electronics, including a five-megawatt Tesla coil. After the demonstrations, the students participated in an informal walking tour of main campus, which included Orton Hall, Thompson Library, Mirror Lake and the RPAC, among other sites.

“My favorite part of Camp CAR was visiting Meyer Shank and seeing the winning car from the 2026 Indianapolis 500,” says Hayden Smith from Mechanicsburg, Ohio.

Campers learning about automotive battery design

Students and faculty from the Autonomous Systems Perception, Intelligence & Navigation Lab led the campers through a “Game of Drones,” challenging them to come up with the best possible trajectory to get a drone from one point to the next.

The future engineers learned about automotive battery design and assembly and experienced what it’s like to be a high voltage battery technician, practicing their skills connecting busbars onto safe isolated battery modules.

The campers also went for a test drive in the Driving Dynamics Lab’s Driving Simulator. In addition to a fun experience, students learned about the importance driving simulators play in building vehicles.

Camp CAR is an annual summer program for rising high school sophomores and juniors. Applications for the 2027 camp will be available on CAR's website in the February, 2026.

Category: Outreach

Tag: camp car

Alumni Spotlight on Polina Brodsky

herr.40@osu.edu — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 17:11:13 +0000

Alumni Spotlight on Polina Brodsky herr.40@osu.edu Posted: July 28, 2026

Alumni Spotlight on Polina Brodsky

Posted: July 28, 2026

Celebrating the continued success of our CAR alumni

Meet Polina Brodsky, former Buckeye Current Team Leader and current Teaching Associate Professor at the Colorado School of Mines.

What first brought you to CAR, and what is your favorite memory from your time here?

Polina with Brutus at CAR’s 25th anniversary
celebration in 2016

“I had a non-traditional start at CAR. Director Giorgio Rizzoni happened to be my younger brother's elementary school soccer coach when I was in high school, and he introduced me to the center. It sounded interesting and like something I wanted to learn more about. I joined as a high school intern the summer before my senior year and left with a PhD 10 years later.”

“My favorite CAR memory was earning a third-place finish at the Isle of Man TT with Buckeye Current. Watching a race bike built entirely by students on a shoestring budget stand on the podium alongside professionally developed machines was an unforgettable moment and a testament to what students can accomplish when they're given the opportunity and support to tackle ambitious challenges.”

If you could describe the atmosphere or culture at CAR during your student days in just three words, what would they be?

“Supportive, persistent, energizing”

Was there a specific project, vehicle build, or late-night breakthrough that defined your CAR experience?

“Designing, building and integrating the battery pack for Buckeye Current’s Pikes Peak race vehicle from the ground up was a pivotal experience for me. It taught me valuable engineering skills, and even more valuable lessons in project management, communication and perseverance.”

Who was a mentor, professor or teammate at CAR who made a lasting impact on you?

“There are so many people at CAR that have shaped my life and career. My PhD advisor, Professor Marcello Canova, had a profound impact on both my career and my approach to working with students. His mentorship showed me that supporting students as people first and researchers/engineers second is what enables them to do their best work, and it's a philosophy I've carried into my own role as a professor. My close friend and mentor David Cooke has also had an enormous influence on me. During my time at CAR, David set the standard for thoughtful leadership and practical problem-solving. In my current role, I still find myself asking, "What would David do?" about once a week (and I often end up calling him to ask that same question).”

Polina, in her scarlet and gray, with some of her automotive program TA's at their School of Mines graduation

How did your hands-on experience at CAR prepare you for the realities of the automotive/engineering industry?

“I understand the value and impact and hands-on motorsports project can give students and get to advocate for and support that every day in my job now.”

What was your very first job after graduation, and how did your CAR background help you land it or excel in it?

“I went straight into academia as a teaching faculty member at Colorado School of Mines, and my experience at CAR gave me a blueprint for what excellence looks like in both research and student-led projects. I now co-lead the automotive program at Mines, and having experienced so many facets of CAR's work has been invaluable in shaping how I build and grow a successful program.”

What does your current role look like, and what is a recent project you are proud of?

“I get to mentor students who are doing the same exact thing I did at CAR! In addition to my teaching and faculty service responsibilities, I advise our EcoCAR team (formerly Battery Workforce Challenge (BWC) during the previous AVTC cycle), our Formula SAE team, and several automotive-focused senior design projects.”

“I'm especially proud of how our student competition teams have grown and performed in my five years at Mines. Our BWC team won the competition in its very first year, and our Formula SAE team achieved its best-ever finish at the Michigan Formula SAE competition last summer, placing 14th overall. It’s rewarding to have put a program like ours “on the map” in such a short amount of time and see the impact it’s had on our incredible students at Mines.”

What is the most valuable professional lesson you learned at CAR that you still use today?

“Even the most difficult and intimidating tasks become manageable once you take the first step.”

What advice would you give to a student currently walking into CAR for their first semester?

“Get in there and try stuff that intimidates you! The experiences that will shape you the most are often the ones that push you outside your comfort zone. Be curious, take on challenges, ask for help and trust that you'll learn far more by doing than by waiting until you feel ready.”

What makes you proudest to be a CAR/Ohio State alumnus?

“I get to say that I’ve worked with the COOLEST people on the COOLEST projects!”

Category: Alumni

Tag: 35thalumni

From Hormuz to the cockpit: Warfare, criminal activity undermine GPS

herr.40@osu.edu — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:31:06 +0000

From Hormuz to the cockpit: Warfare, criminal activity undermine GPS herr.40@osu.edu Posted: July 14, 2026

From Hormuz to the cockpit: Warfare, criminal activity undermine GPS

Posted: July 14, 2026

Originally published in

Zak Kassas

Few people want to get lost when traveling. But if there are places where being lost feels especially unsettling, they tend to be the sea, desert and sky. These environments share a defining feature: the absence of distinctive visual cues. Where horizons blur, landmarks disappear and every direction can look deceptively similar. Knowing where you are depends on information that you cannot see for yourself.
For . Satellite navigation marked a fundamental shift. The advent of who and others around the world are developing these alternatives as backup for when GPS is unavailable or unreliable.

When GPS is silent – or lies

Kassas’ team tracked the course of a ship it was aboard in the Arctic using nonnavigation signals from low Earth orbit satellites. (Image: Zak Kassas)

Jamming overwhelms weak satellite signals with noise or radio frequency signals, blocking GPS position and time altogether.

Spoofing is more insidious: Counterfeit signals surreptitiously replace authentic ones, misleading GPS receivers about location and timing while appearing to crews and automated systems to operate normally.

Interference arises from three sources: military activity, criminal exploitation and accidental misuse. In conflict zones, GPS disruption has become a routine tool of warfare, used to protect assets, degrade surveillance and counter drones. This activity is well documented across Ukraine, the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. It routinely spills over to affect civilian by making it difficult for aircraft and air traffic controllers to track traffic in and out of the airports. Intentional GPS spoofing was even used in a highway heist to steal , finding your way in such environments

GPS’s great strength is that under benign conditions, it works remarkably well in precisely the environments where being lost would be most dangerous. Civilian systems routinely achieve meter‑level accuracy. This accuracy, however, masks a growing vulnerability.

Over the past few years, deliberate GPS interference has surged worldwide, disrupting of electronic navigation. .

Accidental GPS jamming has caused serious disruption at .

Making matters worse, spoofed GPS data does not remain confined to a single system. Ships use the to nearby vessels, shore authorities, insurers and commercial tracking services. This activity can create fleets of “, oil smugglers, sanctions evaders and maritime and GPS signals.

Deadly consequences

GPS intereference is not new, and the U.S. government .

Maritime authorities reported hundreds of ships affected daily, with groundings and collisions in 2024-25 publicly linked to interference of GPS and and the was struck by a Russian air-defense system, killing 38 people after the flight was diverted due to GPS interference. At sea, GPS interference in the Strait of Hormuz has caused ,

Even senior officials are not immune: In 2025, GPS jamming forced an aircraft carrying the during the U.S.-Iran war mark each day, alongside dense commercial traffic. There’s little margin for navigational error. Here, even modest mistakes in position or timing can rapidly escalate into collisions, groundings or environmental disasters.

The Iran war has led to sustained spoofing across the Persian Gulf. Ships have rather than a niche capability in electronic warfare.

Once normalized in one of the world’s busiest sea-lanes, such practices are difficult to contain geographically. The result is a navigation environment in which people can no longer fully trust position, timing and identity at sea. The consequences extend far beyond the confines of the Persian Gulf.

Beyond GPS

The normalization of GPS disruption exposes a deeper issue: Modern navigation resilience has been built around the assumption that GPS signals are usually available and trustworthy. As that assumption erodes, attention has shifted from hardening GPS toward security through diversification. This means drawing navigation information from fundamentally different signals.

For a backup to satellite navigation, several countries, including the U.K., France, Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Korea and China, are deploying or modernizing , referred to as signals of opportunity. In contrast to dedicated navigation systems, such as long-range radio navigation, this approach uses existing infrastructure and preserves scarce radio spectrum. A particularly fruitful type of signal to exploit is terrestrial cellular.

My lab has demonstrated this type of navigation with , or UAVs, , near-lane‑level accuracy and of constellations of low Earth orbit communication satellites. Compared with GPS signals from medium Earth orbit, low Earth orbit satellites offer stronger signals, are numerous, transmit in a much wider swath of the spectrum, and their signals are more resilient to wide-area disruption.

We demonstrated transmitted by Starlink satellites. We then developed receivers that can passively listen to signals emitted from under a Creative Commons license. Read the

Categories: Research Faculty

Driving opportunity: GM’s gifts steer students toward success

herr.40@osu.edu — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:36:50 +0000

Driving opportunity: GM’s gifts steer students toward success herr.40@osu.edu Posted: June 25, 2026

Driving opportunity: GM’s gifts steer students toward success

Posted: June 25, 2026

A long-standing partnership between General Motors (GM) and The Ohio State University College of Engineering is helping ignite interest in automotive careers among young learners and boost the workforce readiness of current Buckeyes.

Engineering students lead a STEM challenge event at a local school.

Since 2016, GM has supported K-12 outreach and experiential learning programming in the college’s Office of Community, Access, Retention, and Empowerment (CARE) and the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). The company’s philanthropic support dates back even further, but funding was spread across the college. In an effort to maximize their impact, GM combined several smaller grants into a single effort. Their most recent grant of $115,000 brings its cumulative giving over the last decade to more than $1 million, underscoring GM’s commitment to career development and hands-on learning.

GM’s latest gift will support two initiatives centered around the EcoCAR student motorsports team, expanding upon existing outreach and retention efforts: ACCELERATE and ACCELERATE 2.0.

“One objective is offering hands-on, real-world problem-solving to build critical thinking and technical skills for our current students, with the ultimate goal of building a more skilled engineering talent pipeline,” said Lisa Barclay, assistant dean for enrollment and community engagement. “The other is to increase science, technology, engineering and math exposure to K-12 students.”

ACCELERATE is a workforce readiness and leadership development program for 20 enrolled undergraduate engineering students designed to empower them in their pursuit of academic success. Delivered in partnership with CAR, the program includes a seven-week spring seminar series and a one-week summer residential experience. Students engage in hands-on workshops, technical challenges, and career development sessions led by CAR researchers, faculty and industry professionals.

ACCELERATE participants will have the opportunity to develop and present engineering solutions to real-world automotive challenges while learning technical skills and building industry-ready resumes. They will also receive mentorship and exposure to research labs and career pathways within automotive engineering.

“It’s an opportunity for students to learn in an environment where they can make mistakes, where they can figure things out and ask questions,” she said. “It’s a unique experience that we can give students early on. It can be difficult sometimes for first- or second-year students to get that first co-op or internship. This program gives those students an experience that they can put on their resume, or it gives them a specific project that they can talk about when they're at the career fair talking to employers.”

Previous participants have expressed significant positive changes in their academic confidence, study behaviors and overall growth after completing the program, noted Barclay.

ACCELERATE 2.0 is a comprehensive outreach initiative targeting K-12 students in school districts where Ohio State engineering programs are offered, with a focus on districts with limited science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) resources. Key components include an interactive STEM challenge event, a FIRST LEGO League design project for elementary school students, and a one-week summer engineering immersion program for high school students. The program aims to spark early interest in STEM and engineering careers through engaging, age-appropriate experiences.

GM’s generous support not only provides students with hands-on experiences they can’t get inside the classroom, it also helps them gain access to opportunities they may otherwise miss.

“A partnership with a company like GM helps level the playing field for first‑generation and less‑connected students by providing networks, mentorship and practical experience,” said Barclay. “It's really important to have these types of connections with corporate partners to help close the gap for students early on.”

by Meggie Biss, College of Engineering Communications | biss.11@osu.edu

It’s invaluable experiential learning for Buckeye Engineers, said Barclay.

Categories: Outreach Industry

Automotive Research

Alumni Spotlight on Brian Gebby

Alumni Spotlight on Brian Gebby

Celebrating the continued success of our CAR alumni

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Kassas Elected to the IEEE AESS Board of Governors

Kassas Elected to the IEEE AESS Board of Governors

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Faculty mentor students through SURE Program

Faculty mentor students through SURE Program

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Alumni Spotlight on Kris Sevel

Alumni Spotlight on Kris Sevel

Celebrating the continued success of our CAR alumni

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Intersection Safety Challenge

Intersection Safety Challenge

Science of Transportation

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Summer interns gain hands-on experience

Summer interns gain hands-on experience

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Camp CAR introduces high school students to automotive engineering and mobility

Camp CAR introduces high school students to automotive engineering and mobility

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Alumni Spotlight on Polina Brodsky

Alumni Spotlight on Polina Brodsky

Celebrating the continued success of our CAR alumni

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From Hormuz to the cockpit: Warfare, criminal activity undermine GPS

From Hormuz to the cockpit: Warfare, criminal activity undermine GPS

When GPS is silent – or lies

Deadly consequences

Beyond GPS

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Driving opportunity: GM’s gifts steer students toward success

Driving opportunity: GM’s gifts steer students toward success

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