University team partners with MPP Catherine Fife for automotive panel
Posted Feb 8, 2016 06:33:08 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team is hosting a free panel discussion this afternoon.
Meagan Pieries, Communications Manager with UWAFT, tells 570 News about the event.
“We’re really looking forward to the panel discussion. It’s with MPP Catherine Fife and other University groups like ‘HeForShe’. It’s essentially about the changing automotive industry and the gender gap in the workforce. It isn’t just about equality– but also broadening participation. It’s through a diverse workforce that creativity and innovation happen.”
The event is put on by UWAFT at the E5 Student Design Centre and is open to the public from 2:15-4:00 pm.
“It’s gonna be an opportunity to really discuss the electrification of vehicles as well. We have a Chevrolet Volt and the new 2016 Camaro which will both be here so people can check those out, but they can also just come out to talk to us to see what’s going on with these different University groups– like WatCAR,” explained UWAFT Project Manager Daniel Van Lanen.
“The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team is a student team between The University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University that is designing and building a hybrid 2016 Chevrolet Camaro as part of the EcoCar 3 competition– which is sponsored by General Motors and the US Department of Energy. What’s great, is that we are one of only two Canadian teams that are taking part in this 16-team North American Competition,” said Pieries.
The competition is 4-years in length and takes place between 2014 and 2018.
“We’re currently in year two of the competition, and this past November is when we actually received our new Camaro. So this is the year that the technical innovation really starts to come together, as we start taking apart the car and putting back in our design tools,” added Van Lanen.
Pieries added that there will also be opportunities at today’s event to interact with GM recruitment, learn about other University groups and of course, check out their EcoCar.
You can learn more about UWAFT and today’s panel by clicking here.
