Overview
Prof. P. Brodsky and I built the automotive engineering track at Colorado School of Mines, from its launch in Fall 2022 to 252 declared students today. I developed MEGN 417/527 Vehicle Dynamics as a core course, brought in industry partners, and set up the curriculum framework that connects classroom work to competition teams and employer-sponsored projects. With only two core faculty, the track now ranks second in Mechanical Engineering by enrollment, behind only Aerospace, at a 126:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
Key Accomplishments
- 252 declared students in the automotive engineering track launched in Fall 2022 (17% of ME track-declared students)
- Developed MEGN 417/527 Vehicle Dynamics and stabilized MEGN 391 Introduction to Automotive Design as the track’s required courses, with curated electives covering vibrations, controls, EVs, fuel cells, combustion, and CFD
- Established partnerships with OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and DOE national laboratories
- Built a curriculum framework that ties coursework to competition and sponsor projects
- Designed the program to be self-sustaining through industry sponsorship and competition funding
Approach
We built the track so that coursework, competition teams, and industry projects reinforce one another. Students learn vehicle dynamics and powertrain fundamentals in class, apply them on the Formula SAE, Shell Eco-marathon, and DOE competition teams, and carry both into sponsored capstone projects. Every course in the track includes a project built around a physical system.
Competition Teams
The program supports flagship student competition teams including Formula SAE, Shell Eco-marathon, and the DOE EcoCAR Innovation Challenge, and from 2023 to 2026 it fielded a DOE Battery Workforce Challenge team. These teams take students through the full engineering cycle, from requirements through design, build, test, and competition.
