Author: College of Engineering

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs

The crowd at Wayne State University’s Matthaei Athletic Complex channeled March Madness to the fullest Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20. Proud parents, peers and supporters let out huge cheers and chants, complete with the occasional wave or fist-pump matched by an up-tempo beat. There were nearly 40 high school teams in attendance.

There were team signs and designs peppered amongst the many people often standing in the stands. You could see a sea of team colors everywhere you looked, and some die-hard participants even dyed their hair to match. There were warriors and Spartans, angels and animals, and people and things, as mascots did their best to match their team’s monikers.

West Side Academy, an alternative education high school in Detroit, achieved great success as a beginner in 2009, but they came back for more. They are Team 3115, the Robo-Panthers. There are 15 students and two mentors this year. Juan Davis, a WSU mechanical engineering freshman, serves as the Robo-Coach (or mentor). He helped with the design and development process, and he also helps the drive team during competition.

Davis, 22, was captain of the Robo-Panthers in 2009. He returned to share his knowledge. “I knew we were going to have a new group of students, and I wanted to show them what I know,” he says.

Davis first got involved in FIRST while attending Frederick Douglas High School his freshman year. “My old basketball coach said I should try it,” he says. “I thought it was geeky. But I tried it, and ended up liking it. You get to make new friends and meet people.”

Davis liked FIRST so much that it motivated him to go into engineering. After three years of competing at Frederick Douglas, Davis decided to follow his younger brother to West Side Academy, but the school didn’t have a robotics program.

Daydawn Butler, a biology and chemistry teacher at West Side Academy, is the lead mentor for the Robo-Panthers. When Davis wanted a robotics program at the school, he went to Butler. At the time, she was also teaching science classes at Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP), attending graduate school, and otherwise too busy to think about getting involved. 

“Juan said, ‘Would you please start a team?’” Butler recalls. “He said he was on a team for three years, and that it was his last year, and that he had to have a team. He had so much passion. As a teacher, how do you turn that down?”

It would have been easier for Butler to just say, “No.” But she didn’t. “West Side is a small school,” she says. “We don’t have any money. No mentors. We started from ground zero.”

The Robo-Panthers managed to rise to greatness last year, their first year. After achieving success in the state championships, the team made it all the way to the 2009 FIRST Championships in Atlanta where they finished 27 out of 80-plus teams.

The Robo-Panthers are a good example of a Engineering March Madness Cinderella team with little experience, but a lot of heart. “I always tell my students, ‘Nobody’s better than you. They may have more money and resources, but they’re not better than you,’” Butler says.

Although the time she spends on the team is even more than she first expected, she would not give up the experience for the world. “It was worth it,” she says. “I don’t get much sleep. I get up at 5:00 a.m., and go to sleep at midnight.”

Butler says some people look down on an alternative school, but that just drives the team members more. “Students come to an alternative school to graduate on time,” she says. “I do believe in them. All kids can achieve if given an opportunity.”

Deidra Evans, 17, is a junior at West Side. The second-year member is one of four girls on the team. It’s rare to find a large number of girls on a FIRST team. “Some females are not really interested in stuff like this,” she says.

Butler says she wanted to get more females involved this year, so she took a few “prospects” to Atlanta last year to let them see what FIRST is all about. “They wanted to join after that,” she says. “We want to get them excited about learning. We encourage STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers.”

Evans says her experience in FIRST and her job working for a youth mentor program influenced her to want to study mechanical engineering in college.

Butler says that FIRST may be the future in teaching. “Programs such as this need to be funded on all levels, national, state and local,” she says. “This not only helps to close the achievement gap, but it also helps students to stay in school, thus increasing the graduation rate. It’s extremely important to make learning fun. Everything is interactive today: cell phones, video games and computers. You have to balance bookwork with fun.”

In the FIRST Breakaway competition, this year’s competitive theme, three teams form alliances and compete against another alliance for a game of “soccer.” Evans says it’s not hard to work together with other teams because they’ve been doing it all along. She says the Robo-Panthers allowed others to take some of their ideas after they were one of the first teams to finish building their robot at the Michigan Engineering Zone, a University of Michigan-Dearborn downtown facility where Detroit schools build their robots with local mentors.

The Robo-Panthers finished 14 out of 38 in Breakaway events at the WSU district competition.

Davis says FIRST is all about having fun and “gracious professionalism,” a phrase coined by Woodie Flowers, FIRST’s national advisor. The phrase means you can have fierce competition but still have fun. A perfect example occurred at last year’s regional’s. The opposing team needed a part to fix their robot. Davis gave them the part, and the Robo-Panthers lost that match.

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Slava Zingerman, already a three-time NCAA men’s epee fencing champion, has been invited to the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championship at Harvard University March 25-28. The Wayne State University senior is looking to cap off his collegiate career by making men’s epee history with four consecutive titles.

Fellow Wayne State fencers, junior Jakub Gibczynski (men’s sabre) and freshman Olivia Dobbs (women’s foil), were also invited to compete in the championships.

Including WSU’s trio of student-athletes, there will be a field of 144 competitors in men’s and women’s fencing at the NCAA Fencing Championship.

Zingerman placed fourth in epee competition at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships held at Northwestern University March 13-14. Sunday marked his third top-five finish at the regional championships. Gibczynski and Dobbs both came in seventh place in their respective divisions.

Zingerman won the Midwest Fencing Conference Championships at the University of Notre Dame March 6-7. The first-place finish is his third conference title in four years.

Denby High School’s FIRST Robotics team is led by Captain Breana Haywood (student, left) and Lead Mentor Murleen Coakley (teacher, right).

The FIRST Robotics District Competition at Wayne State University takes place at Matthaei Athletic Complex Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20. This story follows one of the teams competing in the Michigan districts, which takes place at several locations.

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Denby High School is one of 14 teams from Detroit preparing to compete at the 2010 FIRST Robotics Competition in Michigan. Team 3069, or the “Rollin Stones,” has returned this year more experienced, better prepared, and hungry for more.

FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” FIRST Robotics Competition consists of robots, built and controlled by students with help from adult mentors. Each year, FIRST organizers announce a new game and playing field layout in January when the teams begin to design robots to compete in the new game. This year’s game is called Breakaway. Two alliances will face off, each with three robotics teams, for a game of 3-on-3 soccer.

Murleen Coakley is a 9th grade English teacher at Denby who specializes in Student Services and is the “Lead Mentor” for the Rollin Stones. She says the school administration asked her to participate in FIRST Robotics at Denby two years ago. “Students were interested, so we did it,” Coakley says.

The team looks a lot different this year. “I have more boys participating,” says Coakley. “We have a larger squad. We went from 5 to 14 pre-college students.”

There are only two returning members this year, captains Breana Haywood and Erica Green. Both students are juniors at Denby. They are also the only females on the team. They are both confident in their chances now that they have more help. “They are a very good team,” says Haywood. “I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

The robot has gone through many changes. Green says the team replaced the back two wheels with ones better suited for moving on carpet. There are three remote controllers manipulating the robot: one to drive the robot; another for the plunger (a vacuum pump) attached to the front of the robot to suck in the soccer ball; and one more for the kicker that releases the ball into the goal.

Robert Levasseur, BSEET’09, is volunteering time and services for the Rollin Stones this year. Levasseur helps with supervising as well as installing electrical lines.

Coakley says Levasseur contributed important pieces to the robot. “He was very helpful,” she says. “He offered and designed several parts that are going to help protect the electrical parts of the robot.”

Levasseur says he decided to volunteer after receiving an email asking WSU engineering students to help Denby students build a robot. “Out of curiosity, I figured I’d do what I can to help,” he says. “I have a lot of experience with building things.”

An engineer from GM Hybrid also offered assistance with the building process for the Rollin Stones.

The team’s robot was entirely built at the Michigan Engineering Zone (MEZ) located in the University of Michigan Detroit Center downtown in Orchestra Place. The MEZ, sponsored by the U-M College of Engineering, gives students from schools across the city the opportunity to machine parts, build robots and even test-drive them on a practice playing field. “Denby does not have the proper facilities, tools and equipment to build our robot,” says Coakley. “Many high schools in Detroit cannot support the build of this type of robot if it is going to be durable.”

The robot, which took the team six weeks to build, has yet to be named. Coakley says they are waiting to see all that it can do. The team finished their final build session for their robot Saturday, Feb. 14, but there was still some programming and a lot of testing left to do.

Last year’s team wasn’t able to qualify at the district competition. “We didn’t have a lot of teamwork last year,” says Haywood. “We have more people who are dedicated to robotics and willing to work and put effort into building a robot. The more responsible we are, the better that will help us get ready for the competition.”

This year, the Rollin Stones are hoping to roll through the districts and make it to the state competition. Coakley says placing well in the competition all depends on how well you drive the robot using the remote controllers. She also hopes to win the Woodie Flowers Award (for effective communication between team leaders and their robots) and the Website Award (for excellence in student-designed, built and managed websites).”

A few years ago, Coakley, Green and Haywood tried their hand at FIRST Lego League, an autonomous robot competition for students aged 9 to 14. The experience helped to prepare them for the FIRST Robotics Competition. “We did Lego for a year,” says Coakley. “It’s a good start for students to get them interested in the idea of competition. I think it’s good for 8th and 9th-graders. It gets them thinking about planning, designing and then executing their ideas. They learn good leadership and responsibility.”

Haywood says she upgraded from Legos to the real thing because “real robots seemed fun.” She adds that you get to meet a lot of people and see friends from other schools.

Haywood says she is responsible for making sure everyone is doing his or her job, and that everything is organized how it’s supposed to be. She says her experience as captain will look good on her resume. “I learned how to program,” says Haywood. “I learned about different parts. And I learned how to build a robot.”

Green says she plans to study mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering in the future. But Haywood says studying engineering will have to come second to physical therapy.

Each FIRST Robotics team is required to compete in at least two district competitions. First up is Cass Tech (March 12-13), followed by Troy Athens (March 26-27). The Rollin Stones hope to make it all the way to the state competition at Eastern Michigan University (April 1-3) and possibly the finals in Atlanta (April 15-17).

If you would like to keep up with the team, you can follow them at: www.rollinstones3069.com.

Denby High School students, along with Wayne State volunteer, Levasseur (center), build a robot for FIRST Robotics at the University of Michigan Detroit Center.

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Introducing, in this corner, from Detroit, Michigan, standing 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 141 pounds, the challenger, Wayne State University freshman, “Lightning” Brad Chaiken.

Chaiken, a mechanical engineering major, has to be light and fast. He has a wife and four children. He works part-time as a student assistant for the Dean’s Office at the college. He trains on his own and with other boxers. And he volunteers with the youth.

After fighting through life’s challenges, the orthodox right-hand boxer has found a way to remain positive in a world full of naysayers and those who think they know better.

Chaiken, 30, started boxing seriously at a relatively late age, but has always been intrigued by the sport since a young boy. “I started dipping and dabbling in boxing when I was in my early teens, but I didn’t start taking it serious until the end of 2004,” he says. “My grandfather took me down to the Kronk Boxing Gym once or twice when I was very young. Around the time that Tommy Hearns and Hilmer Kenty were coming up. I met Hearns there and I had a curiosity for the sport from then on.”

Chaiken may not look like your typical fighter. He’s tall for his weight class. “I’m the tallest light welterweight (132-141 lbs) in the Midwest,” he says. “Nobody on record in the Midwest has my measurements.”

He’s also a skinny white guy who came up in Detroit. “It’ll make you or break you,” says Chaiken. “I don’t train in suburban gyms. I’ve been in every gym south of Eight Mile — in places where there’s not a white kid for miles. I have nothing against the gyms in the suburbs. But if you want to be the king of the jungle, you have to fight with the lions.”

Chaiken says he has never faced any racial issues in any of the gyms across the city. However, “Getting accepted is another thing,” he says.

A significant event for Chaiken took place in 2005 as a contestant in the Metropolitan Detroit Golden Gloves Tournament. Let’s set the scene. The bell rings. The first round begins. The first exchange of punches are thrown. Bam. Chaiken takes a good shot to the nose. He’s shaken, but not stirred. The match continues. Round Two. A doctor stops the fight momentarily to check on Chaiken’s nose…says he’s clear to go. The fight continues. Chaiken dominates going into the third round without taking further damage. He’s well on his way to victory. Only 30 seconds left on the clock in this three-round bout. The referee calls the fight. The crowd erupts in boos. Later, one of the judges whispers, “the ref robbed you…you were winning on all three score cards.”

Although he won respect from others that night, Chaiken took an ‘L’ that hurt much worse than his nose (which was broken in two places). But he bounced back to win the 2005 Flint Tough Gloves title the following year. Then, he returned to the Detroit Golden Gloves with a vengeance in 2006. “I came back,” he says. “I knocked out everyone they put in front of me. I got a lot of good reviews after getting my nose broken and coming back to win championships.”

Chaiken won the 2007 state title in Michigan. He took home the bronze medal at a 2007 world championship tournament, and a silver medal at the 2008 James Toney National Championships in Ann Arbor. Overall, Chaiken has amassed an impressive 20-6 record.

A long time ago, Chaiken earned the nickname, “Lightning,” from his trainer because of his fast jab and right hand. “The jab is the key to my success in the ring,” he says. “I’ve beaten opponents literally with just my left hand (jabs and hooks). Right hands are used to ‘close the show.’”

His biggest boxing inspirations are Detroit staples Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and James “Lights Out” Toney. “My style is ‘smart’ boxing,” says Chaiken. “Boxing is about hitting and not getting hit. It’s a chess match. Everyone is essentially taught the same basics. Our styles differ, however, when we use what works for us individually. In my case, my brain is my weapon. I ‘think’ in the ring, not just fight. I am a defensive fighter. I model myself after James Toney and Thomas Hearns. James is one of the best defensive fighters in the history of the sport. And of course, Tommy was one of the best offensive ones.”

Chaiken was always competitive and never a fan of losing. “Growing up, I played a lot of different sports: football, hockey… but I got tired of losing because of other people,” he says. “I got tired of relying on other people to win… relying on the quarterback…relying on the goalie. To me, boxing is the ultimate form of competition. I don’t have to worry about a pitcher. It’s one-on-one. Either you win, or you lose. But you don’t have to rely on other people.”

Chaiken comes from a family of people who did not go to college, but managed to run their own business. At 16, he was doing demolition work. After high school, he went to a trade school to learn heating and cooling from 2003 to 2004. Chaiken says he ran his own heating and cooling business until the economy tanked. But he always thought about going back to school.

One day, he told a friend his master plan to attend Wayne State, become a mechanical engineer and return to the heating and cooling industry. “They told me I couldn’t do it,” Chaiken says of the pessimist. “He said, ‘You’re too old. You can’t do this.’ It really took those words to drive me here. You can’t tell a great fighter ‘no.’”

He’s on a roll. “The more that I hear ‘you can’t do this,’ and the more that I actually do, the more my kids pick up on it and they see what personal drive can do. They said I was too old to go to college, and now I’m here. They said I was too small-framed to box, and now I give people fits in the ring. I’ve won some titles that they said I wouldn’t. They said my marriage wouldn’t last six months. Today, we’ve been married almost 10 years.”

Chaiken says young people are not taking advantage of the opportunity to get an education. “It’s hard to go back to school after so much time off,” he says. “I’m 30 years old. I have a wife and four kids. If I can do it, there’s no reason you can’t.”

Chaiken trains other fighters, both amateur and professional. That’s not to say his glory days are behind him, but a detached retina from a fight in 2009 has slowed him down. He also volunteers his time with disadvantaged youth as a way of giving back to the community that raised him to become the strong fighter that he is.

“I had a hard life coming up,” he says. “Ninety percent of the time boxers come from not the best situations…gangs, correctional facilities. I grew up rough. Pops left early and mom could only do so much. I started working odd jobs before I could legally work to help (mostly in construction). I had a lot of negative influences in my life due to the areas where we lived, schools that I went to, etc. My cousin was murdered in a drive-by shooting when I was 14 (his cousin was 16). My mom caught wind that I could be wrapped up with that situation, so she sent me to live in Texas for a year. I was really on my own, and completely moved out when I was 17.”

Chaiken says he wasn’t the best kid back then. He adds that some of his actions were “reckless” as a youth and it took him a while to mature. “I really didn’t start appreciating life until I created it,” he says. “Until I had my son, I had no respect for myself or anyone else. I didn’t know how to live for anyone else except myself. That all changed with my children.”

Being a mentor also brings great satisfaction, says Chaiken. He managed to get some underprivileged kids hooked on boxing. “You really see them light up…and the enthusiasm in them when you put them in the ring,” he says.

Chaiken has several people in his corner, keeping him focused. Outside of his family, there is Gerald Thompkins, associate dean of student affairs, who helped him land his on-campus job. “He has gone out of his way to help me adjust to Wayne State,” says Chaiken.

Thompkins says his investment in Chaiken paid off. “He had some personal challenges in his life, and I really wanted to help him as much as I could,” says Thompkins. “Plus, he seemed like a very sincere and genuine person, and he has turned out to be that kind of individual in terms of his work ethic.”

Other supporters include: his coaching team, Ferdell Pitts and Keith Jackson; and his sparring partner, Darryl “The People’s Choice” Cunningham, a middleweight fighter who Chaiken says “opened up a whole new world to me and made me a better person for it.” He adds that they keep him humble by reminding him that “there is always someone better.”

Chaiken hopes to take his career to the next level this year. “If all goes well, I will be making my pro debut by the end of the summer,” he says. “At 30, my body is still young. And since starting college at Wayne State, my mind is sharper than ever.”

Thompkins wants Chaiken to recognize all the opportunities in front of him. “There is life after boxing,” he recalls saying to Chaiken. “At this point in your life and in your career, your direction should be focused on academics and finding a professional career that’s not as painful.”

For now, Chaiken is planning to become a member of the Formula SAE team at Wayne State. He also takes on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) work on the side when the opportunity presents itself.

by Derrick Bean
COE Public Affairs Writer

Philip Swanson, a third-year civil engineering major, defines what it means to be a student-athlete. He had the highest GPA (3.58) of all athletes studying engineering last year. And Swanson proudly wears “Warriors” on his chest and “19” on his back when he plays first base and outfielder for Wayne State University’s baseball team.

It’s spring. The snow is melting and the sun shining a little more. “It’s baseball season,” he says. “It’s the good time.”

Swanson wants nothing but the best from himself, and from his team. “I think our chances are good,” he says. “We’ve got a lot of great players. We expect a championship. We don’t want to settle for anything less than that.”

Ryan Kelley, head baseball coach, says Swanson is the “ultimate teammate” and student. “He has tremendous leadership, discipline, and professional qualities,” says Kelley. “Phil leads by example on the field, in practice, within the classroom, and with our community outreach efforts.”

As a redshirt freshman in 2008, Swanson was one of 13 baseball players to win GLIAC All-Academic Team honors. He also won the Gary Chapp Spirit Award for his dedication and hard work while putting the team’s needs above his own.

Performing well in the classroom and in the outfield is no walk in the ballpark. “It is difficult, says Swanson. “It seems that there’s a direct correlation to your success on and off the field. It seems that when you’re doing well in class, you usually play well on the field. And likewise the other way around when you’re not doing well.”

Kelley constantly preaches the connection between good grades and good games. “A major goal of our baseball program is to graduate and win,” he says. “In order to receive excellent grades, students have to prepare diligently. In order to win on the baseball field, athletes must prepare with a similar mentality.”

Swanson majors in civil engineering, influenced by his father’s profession. His dad has spent his whole life in the natural gas industry. “I’ll probably end up working in that same field,” says Swanson. “I’ve had the chance to work in pipeline and processing. It interests me, and there’s good money in it. That’s something I will probably pursue if I can.”

Team practices are held everyday during the season. Swanson says practice hours have improved over last year’s when a late sessions didn’t end until 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. Evening practice now ends around 12:30 or so, which works out better with his late-night study habits.

Swanson enjoys going to movies and watching TV in the very little free time that he has. He says it would be good if he could make it up to church on Sundays, but “it’s hard during the season because we’re gone every weekend.”

Swanson says most teachers are considerate of the hectic schedule for student-athletes, but some players have had instances where teachers weren’t too supportive. “Some are very lenient and cooperative,” he says. “They’re not cutting us slack, but willing to work around our schedule and make it possible to do both baseball and school.”

Time-management is the key to Swanson’s success when it comes to balancing studies and daily practices, classes and games and everything in between. “You have to sacrifice some stuff, and kind of weigh the importance of what you’re doing at the time,” he says. “A lot of players like to go out Thursday nights…but, we have practice Friday morning so that pretty much never happens. Sometimes, I put off studying for a family birthday because I don’t see my family very often.”

Swanson was the 2009 Most Improved Player. He hit .344, a very high batting average in his role as designated hitter, his first season in the starting lineup. Then he spent the off-season improving his game in order to help out more this year.“ Teams are made up of individuals,” he says. “But if one guy on your team hits 1.000 and everyone else hits .100, you’re only as good as your weakest player.”

Swanson knows how to step up to the plate when the time is right. As designated hitter, he led the team with a .475 average with runners on base, and .476 with runners in scoring position. “I was D.H. most of the time last year,” says Swanson. “That gave me the opportunity to play when I probably wouldn’t have had that opportunity in the outfield. I was very fortunate to be put in some clutch situations last year, and ended up coming through for my team.”

By early March, the Warriors had gotten off to a slow start (5-3) since the season began Feb. 20. Swanson says something has to change now in order for the team to be successful later. The team has traveled to Carrollton, Ga. and Springfield, Mo. to play various teams. Michigan weather rarely allows WSU’s baseball team to play here during the spring.

As a Wayne State baseball athlete, every  player must volunteer with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit or the Local Intervention Network for Kids in order to give back to the community. Once a week, he helps kids with homework or plays games with them. And so, in this way, life works to balance things out.

1:00 P.M.—2:30 P.M.

Hall of Fame Conf. Room
5050 Anthony Wayne Dr
Detroit, MI 48202

Greene’s Bio:
Lawrence R. Greene has practiced law since 1968.  In addition, he has been a Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor  since 2002.  His areas of specialization at the University are Public and  Constitutional Law.

In addition to teaching at the University of Michigan, Professor Greene has also taught at the University of Detroit and Wayne State University Schools of Law.

For More Information
Contact Michelle Reaves
Phone: (313) 577-4006
Email: [email protected]

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02-25-2010 20th Century
03-04-2010 World War II/Cold War
03-11-2010 21st Century

by David Reich
COE Public Affairs Officer

DETROIT  Aug. 5, 2009  Wayne State University will provide the electric vehicle engineering education component to President Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan to turn the American automotive industry around, investing $966 million in battery and electric vehicle development and manufacturing in the state of Michigan.

“I am ecstatic and appreciate the Obama Administration in recognizing education as a vital part of his plan calling for specially skilled engineers needed to advance and support electric drive vehicles (EDV),” said Simon Ng, professor, Department of Chemical and Materials Science Engineering.

Ng, like most, got word only hours before President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were to make simultaneous public announcements Aug. 5 that might involve Ng’s multi-million dollar U. S. Department of Energy grant proposal.

Ng, who is also director of Wayne State’s Alternative Energy Technology degree program, is leading a team of Wayne State engineering and Macomb Community College faculty, along with NextEnergy of Michigan, looking to provide a comprehensive set of advanced educational degree programs in electric drive vehicles, electric transportation technology, and electric vehicle maintenance.

“Our proposed program will be a key component supporting the President’s goal to put one million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on the road by 2015,” Ng said.

In making the announcement at NextEnergy in Techtown just north of the Wayne State campus, Vice President Biden said that the Recovery Act awards — the “single largest investment” ever in battery technology and manufacturing — is expected to create 19,000 high-paying decent jobs in the state. According to the plan, Michigan will receive the largest of the total Recovery Act awards than any other state.

The Obama Administration will invest a total of $2.4 billion in grants to accelerate manufacturing and deployment of the next generation of batteries and electric vehicles. Five organizations in Michigan, including GM, Ford and Chrysler, battery manufacturers, and three universities, will receive $966 million of the total $1.5 billion in battery-related grants. General Motor’s $105.9 million grant is for the production of high-volume battery packs for the Chevy Volt, the much anticipated plug-in extended range hybrid electric vehicle.

But a critical piece of the plan is creating a pipeline of next generation technicians and engineers needed by an industry transforming to electric drive vehicles.

Currently, no degree programs in electric drive vehicles exist in the United States. “The auto manufacturers are training their EDV engineers and technicians mainly in-house,” said Ng. “These components and systems are very much in a state of rapid scientific and technological development that will demand highly trained engineers and technologies with the highest level of technology education.”

The official DOE approval of the Wayne State grant is for $5 million.

The proposed Wayne State degree programs include a master’s degree in Electric Drive Vehicle Engineering, a bachelor’s degree in Electric Transportation Technology, an associate’s degree in Automotive Technology and Electronic Engineering Technology, an undergraduate concentration, and a graduate certificate program in Electric Drive Vehicle Engineering.

Ng envisions at some point approximately 500 students enrolled in Wayne State’s new degree programs training to be design engineers. But it all depends on how fast industry can ramp up manufacturing of electric drive vehicles. “How many engineers does industry need? That’s a difficult question. Right now, very few. Probably there’ll be a demand in the thousands once industry starts producing these cars.”

There are some 1,000 prospective graduate students and 2,000 prospective undergraduates “locally” eligible for the new degree program, Ng said. The distance-learning and web-based curriculum aspects of the proposal give the educators the potential to reach thousands of more students in the state and across the country, he added.

Wayne State was already in good position to build the new degree programs because of its long historical relationships with the auto industry. Wayne State’s College of Engineering created the nation’s first comprehensive master’s program in alternative energy technology in 2006. Its Division of Engineering Technology is also launching a new program in advanced battery systems for hybrid electric vehicles this fall.

In addition, as a Partner for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE), the college’s labs are equipped to provide computer simulation modules, design tools and virtual experiments to cover a wide range of electric car design and simulation from product lifecycle analysis to design team communications.

Together with Macomb Community College with its hybrid electric vehicle maintenance training program, students enrolled in the new program can begin to take courses toward these degree programs beginning in January even if the review and approval process by Wayne State University is not complete, Ng said.

The following team members have signed on to the proposed degree programs as educators and trainers:

For Wayne State University: Dennis Corrigan, Kyoung-Yun Kim, Jerry Ku, Ming-Chia Lai, Gene Liao, Feng Lin, John Q. Liu, Steven Salley, Caisheng Wang, Le Yi Wang, Ece Yaprak and Chi Ping Yeh.

For Macomb Community College: Lisa Richter, Matthew Rossow, William Stark, and John Wieczerza.

For NextEnergy (providing community outreach workshop component): Jim Saber.