Bridging the gap in engineering education through student competition

As a growing number of institutions around the world are discovering, student competitions provide an unparalleled source of motivation and a vehicle for training students in real world problem solving. Universities have even begun to attract students because of the competitions they offer; and the graduates with competition experience have become highly sought after by engineering companies. This presentation will use EcoCAR and ChallengeX, which span multiple years and involve different focus components in each year, as examples to illustrate the process of such a competition and how students gained automotive engineering experience including Model-Based Design in a realistic learning environment fostered by the industry and the academic institutions involved.