case study in electrical engineering

Electrical Engineers Case Studies – Problems & Solutions

In this article, you will learn about the electrical engineers’ and technicians’ case studies, common problems and their solutions.

Table of Contents

Electrical Engineers Case Studies

Case study 1 – surge protection failure.

Problem: A technology company is experiencing frequent damage to their electronic equipment. The equipment is being damaged by voltage surges on the power grid, resulting in costly repairs and lost productivity.

Solution: The electrical engineer identified that the surge protection devices in place were not sufficient to protect the equipment.

The engineer designed and implemented a new surge protection system that included a combination of surge arresters, surge suppressors, and voltage regulators to effectively protect the equipment from voltage surges.

The engineer also provided training to the maintenance team on how to properly maintain the new surge protection system.

Case Study 2 – Arc Flash Hazard

Problem: A manufacturing plant is experiencing an increased number of electrical accidents, including arc flash incidents. The accidents are causing injuries to employees and costly equipment damage.

Solution: The electrical engineer conducted a thorough assessment of the electrical system to identify potential arc flash hazards.

The engineer then implemented a program to mitigate the hazards, including the installation of arc flash protection devices, the implementation of safe work procedures, and employee training on electrical safety.

The engineer also set up a regular maintenance schedule for the electrical equipment to minimize the risk of arc flash incidents.

Case Study 3 – Energy Efficiency Retrofit

Problem: A commercial building is experiencing high energy costs, due to outdated and inefficient electrical systems.

Solution: The electrical engineer conducted an energy audit of the building to identify opportunities for energy efficiency improvements.

The engineer then designed and implemented an energy efficiency retrofit, including the installation of energy-efficient lighting, HVAC controls, and power monitoring systems.

Case Study 4 – Backup Power System Upgrade

Problem: A hospital is experiencing frequent power outages, and the existing backup power system is not providing reliable power during outages.

Solution: The electrical engineer conducted a review of the existing backup power system and identified that it was outdated and not sufficient to meet the hospital’s power needs.

The engineer designed and implemented an upgrade to the backup power system, including the installation of new generators, transfer switches, and uninterruptible power supplies. The engineer also provided training to the maintenance team on how to properly maintain the new backup power system.

Case Study 5 – Motor Control Center Upgrade

Problem: A factory is experiencing frequent equipment breakdowns, due to outdated and unreliable motor control centers.

Solution: The electrical engineer conducted a review of the existing motor control centers and identified that they were outdated and not reliable.

The engineer designed and implemented an upgrade to the motor control centers, including the installation of new motor control devices, variable frequency drives, and control systems. The engineer also provided training to the maintenance team on how to properly maintain the new motor control centers.

Case Study 6 – Smart Grid Implementation

Problem: A utility company wants to improve the efficiency and reliability of their power grid, by implementing a smart grid system.

Solution: The electrical engineer designed and implemented a smart grid system, including the installation of smart meters, advanced metering infrastructure, and a communication network . The engineer also provided training to the utility’s staff on how to use the new system and worked with the utility’s customers to educate them on how to use the new system to optimize their energy usage.

These unique case studies show how electrical engineers can use their skills and knowledge to design, implement, and maintain advanced electrical systems that improve efficiency, reliability, and safety.

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Case Studies

Written by people with industrial experience, the case studies listed in this section takes you directly into the Industries to discuss various problems faced by Design and Maintenance Engineers in their daily routine jobs. Through these case studies, engineer’s share their valuable experience on how they managed to find solutions for the problems that they faced in their respective industry.

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The Engineering Cases group believes that through cases, students will improve their ability to learn and retain concepts in their courses, on work terms and in their professional lives. One of the best means to create case studies is by converting them from student-generated work reports. As a result, it is in our best interest to ensure that work reports submitted to our group contain an adequate design process and topics that align with topics that professors have suggested would benefit from case studies. We also believe that students will benefit by having suggestions for work term report topics.

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Vibration Measurement: Wireless Portable Stroke Monitor

A manufacturer of vibrating feeder equipment was purchasing a private-labelled off-the-shelf Bluetooth Low Energy enabled accelerometer. The supplier was unable to keep up with product demand and had raised the price significantly. A lower cost solution was needed. 

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Power a laboratory pump system occupying only one-half the bench space with one-quarter the volume of the current product, and increase performance while also reducing cost.

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Bring laboratory-grade water analysis and chemical feed control to large-scale commercial and industrial water cooling tower systems.

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MathCad Circuit Modeling: Improving Circuit Design

Meet aggressive project schedules while reducing hardware development costs by improving the circuit design process.

The addition of detailed electronic circuit modeling in the latest release of the PTC MathCad software environment provides a powerful tool to simulate, optimize, and document the circuit design prior to building a PC board.

SPICE simulation alone will only report the performance of a circuit design, but it will not recommend component values to meet the design goals.

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Create a modular, expandable, configurable and robust boiler monitoring and control system that can be used world-wide.  The system must be able to connect to a wide range of external input sources as well as control external devices.  Ethernet, USB and modem connectivity are required.

An NXP 32-bit ARM7 processor, multiple Microchip 8-bit PICs, Micro Digital SMX operating system, ANSI C, and the IAR Embedded Workbench were used to create this extendable, robust, highly flexible system.

Tecnova was asked to build the next generation of industrial controllers for a long standing customer. The customer's goal was ambitious – configurable enough to support multiple current product lines as well as future products not yet envisioned.

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A case study of maintenance and condition monitoring of the power transformers

Maintenance optimization.

This research is a case study of the maintenance optimization for power transmission systems processes and particularly transformers of GRIDCo. It is therefore imperative to combine both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The quantitative technique involves a participant observation of the operations at GRIDCo and a survey of human subjects who expressed their views of the Maintenance Optimization process.

It also involves analysis of data on a sample of products returned for after sales service and their corresponding quality control check procedures and data prior to their being released.

The task of finding the optimal balance of preventive and corrective maintenance is approached as a multicriteria optimization problem. On one hand, we have the customers’ demands for power delivery and on the other hand we have the maintenance cost for the transmission equipment.

In the optimization equipment failure and the consequent total customer interruption cost is used as the measure of system reliability performance from the customer perspective.

The maintenance costs are closely related to the analyzed network, its components, structure and available resources.

The non-human subjects in the qualitative study involve a descriptive narrative of the Maintenance Optimization for Power Transmission Systems procedure or protocol as well as the same descriptive narrative of the reality of the actual maintenance process.

Related article:

My worst experience in the maintenance and supervision of medium voltage substations

Data on transmission systems were sampled and analysed. Yin (2009) asserts that a case study is an empirical inquiry about a contemporary phenomenon, that is, a case, set within its real-world context especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.

Case studies involve an up-close or in-depth understanding of a single or small number of cases , set in their real-world contexts. The closeness aims to produce an invaluable and deep understanding, which results in new learning about real-world behaviour and its meaning.

Source data

Two main sources of data namely, the primary and secondary sources of data were used for the case study. In this context, the researcher acquired primary data via collection of original primary materials from field personnel and equipment manuals .

Part of the research work carried out at Obuasi, Buipe, Aflao, Achimota, Winneba and New Substations investigated the maintenance records on transformers at these locations prior to the failures of transformers at the said substations. This was aimed at verifying the adequacy or otherwise of time-based maintenance techniques in the maintenance of transmission equipment.

This explains how costly corrective maintenance can result from ineffective planned preventive maintenance on transmission equipment.

The results of the research work exposed the inadequacy of time based maintenance which makes reliability of power supply vulnerable to unexpected equipment failures. Electricity consumers in Winneba and its environs had to suffer power cuts for about one month after the failure of the transformer before it was replaced.

Though best practices cannot entirely prevent the occurrence of every equipment failure in GRIDCo, the research work also revealed that early warnings and proactive maintenance can reduce the probability of catastrophic failures .

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2024-25 General Bulletin

Electrical Engineering, BSE

Degree:  Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) Major:  Electrical Engineering

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree program with a major in Electrical Engineering provides our students with a broad foundation in electrical engineering through combined classroom and laboratory work which prepares our students for entering the profession of electrical engineering, as well as for further study at the graduate level.

The Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree program in Electrical Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET , under the commission’s General Criteria and Program Criteria for Electrical Engineering.

The Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering also offers a double major in Systems and Control Engineering and Electrical Engineering.

The educational mission of the electrical engineering program is to graduate students who have fundamental technical knowledge of their profession and the requisite technical breadth and communications skills to become leaders in creating the new techniques and technologies that will advance the general field of electrical engineering.

Program Educational Objectives

• Graduates will be successful professionals obtaining positions appropriate to their background, interests, and education.
• Graduates will use continuous learning opportunities to improve and enhance their professional skills.
• Graduates will demonstrate leadership in their profession.

Learning Outcomes

As preparation for achieving the above educational objectives, the Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree program with a major in Electrical Engineering is designed so that students attain:

• an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
• an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
• an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
• an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
• an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
• an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
• an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

Co-op and Internship Programs

Opportunities are available for students to alternate studies with work in industry or government as a co-op student, which involves paid full-time employment over seven months (one semester and one summer). Students may work in one or two co-ops, beginning in the third year of study. Co-ops provide students the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience in their field by completing a significant engineering project while receiving professional mentoring. During a co-op placement, students do not pay tuition but maintain their full-time student status while earning a salary. Alternatively or additionally, students may obtain employment as summer interns.

Undergraduate Policies

For undergraduate policies and procedures, please review the Undergraduate Academics section of the General Bulletin.

Accelerated Master's Programs

Undergraduate students may participate in accelerated programs toward graduate or professional degrees. For more information and details of the policies and procedures related to accelerated studies, please visit the Undergraduate Academics section of the General Bulletin.

Combined Bachelor's/Master's Program in Electrical Engineering

The department encourages highly motivated and qualified students to apply for admission to the Combined Bachelor's/Master's Program in the junior year. This integrated program permits up to 9 credit hours of graduate level coursework to be counted towards both BS and MS degree requirements.  It also offers the opportunity to complete both the Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Master of Science degrees within five years.

Program Requirements

Students seeking to complete this major and degree program must meet the  general requirements for bachelor's degrees  and the  Unified General Education Requirements . Students completing this program as a  secondary major  while completing another undergraduate degree program do not need to satisfy the  school-specific requirements  associated with this major.

Required Courses:

Core courses provide our students with a strong background in signals and systems, computers, electronics (both analog and digital), and semiconductor devices. Students are required to develop depth in at least one of the following technical areas: signals and control, solid state, computer hardware, computer software, circuits, robotics, and biomedical applications. In addition to the core courses, each electrical engineering student must complete the following requirements:

Technical Elective Requirement

Each student must complete 21 credit hours of approved technical electives. Technical electives shall be chosen to fulfill the depth requirement (see next) and otherwise increase the student’s understanding of electrical engineering. Technical electives not used to satisfy the depth requirement are more generally defined as any course related to the principles and practice of electrical engineering. This includes all ECSE courses at the 200-level and above and can include courses from other programs. All non-ECSE technical electives must be approved by the student’s academic advisor.

Statistics Requirement

Design Requirement

In consultation with a faculty advisor, a student completes the program by selecting technical and open elective courses that provide in-depth training in one or more of a spectrum of specialties, such as, control, signal processing, electronics, integrated circuit design and fabrication, and robotics. With the approval of the advisor, a student may emphasize other specialties by selecting elective courses from other programs or departments.

Additionally, math and statistics classes are highly recommended as an integral part of the student's technical electives to prepare for work in industry and government and for graduate school. The following math/statistics classes are recommended and would be accepted as approved technical electives:

Other Math/Statistics courses may be used as technical electives with the approval of the student's academic advisor.

Many courses have integral or associated laboratories in which students gain “hands-on” experience with electrical engineering principles and instrumentation. Students have ready access to the teaching laboratory facilities and are encouraged to use them during non-scheduled hours in addition to the regularly scheduled laboratory sessions. Opportunities also exist for undergraduate student participation in the wide spectrum of research projects being conducted in the department.

Depth Requirement

Each student must show a depth of competence in one technical area by taking at least three courses from one of the following areas. This depth requirement may be met using a combination of the above core courses and a selection of open and technical electives. Alternative depth areas may be considered by petition to the program faculty.

Area I: Signals & Control

Area II: Computer Software

Area III: Solid State

Area IV: Circuits

Area V: Computer Hardware

Area VI: Biomedical Applications

Area VII:  Robotics

Sample Plan of Study

The following is a suggested program of study.  Current students should always consult their advisors and their individual graduation requirement plans as tracked in  SIS .

Unified General Education Requirement .

Students who have complementary interests in computer software or computer science can take  ECSE 132 / CSDS 132  as an alternative.

Selected students may be invited to take PHYS 123 and PHYS 124 in place of PHYS 121 and PHYS 122 .

Technical electives will be chosen to fulfill the depth requirement and otherwise increase the student’s understanding of electrical engineering. Courses used to satisfy the depth requirement must come from the department’s list of depth areas and related courses. Technical electives not used to satisfy the depth requirement are more generally defined as any course related to the principles and practice of electrical engineering. This includes all ECSE courses at the 200 level and above, and can include courses from other programs. All non-ECSE technical electives must be approved by the student’s advisor.

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Case Study: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

This resource was created as part of the Future Morph  programme  from the Science Council and dates from 2010. Although historic, it is still relevant and useful today. It  includes a video in which a student talks about his course in electrical and electronic engineering. He describes how one project was to make and test a circuit that included a light-sensitive resistor. A second activity describes a class experiment into the current and voltage characteristics of a semiconductor diode.

More details about the current activity of the Science Council can be found on their  website , which includes the professional registration award for educators,  Chartered Science Teacher ( CSciTeach ) .

Acknowledgements

• Lesson plans: Nuffield Foundation Practical Physics activities; David Sang, courtesy of Institute of Physics Practical Biology activities; Carol Levick, courtesy of Society of Biology Practical Chemistry activities; Emma Palmer, courtesy of Royal Society of Chemistry
• Supporting information: CoHesion Career Development Consultancy, Brian Cairns and Ruth Wright Films: Anna Grayson,
• Production and direction: Bob Walters,
• Direction and filming:  Phil Stopford and Twofour Digital Ltd,
• Post production:  Exeter College
• Additional footage:  WaterAid

Show health and safety information

Please be aware that resources have been published on the website in the form that they were originally supplied. This means that procedures reflect general practice and standards applicable at the time resources were produced and cannot be assumed to be acceptable today. Website users are fully responsible for ensuring that any activity, including practical work, which they carry out is in accordance with current regulations related to health and safety and that an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out.

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• Engineering Ethics

The following series of engineering ethics cases were created by interviewing numerous engineers from Silicon Valley and beyond.

The cases have been written, anonymized, and honed to highlight the ethical content from each interview. While these cases are meant for engineering students and professionals for their professional development, nearly all of the cases occur in the context of business, and therefore are also relevant for those seeking business ethics cases.

These cases are suitable as homework and/or for classroom discussion. The goal of this project is to acquaint engineering students and professionals with the variety of ethical experiences of engineering as practiced “in the field.” By becoming familiar with problems faced by other engineers we hope to thereby prepare those reading these cases if they too encounter difficult ethical dilemmas in their work.

Cases range from the mundane to the deadly. While we do not reveal how each particular case turned out, in general they turned out well – the people involved made the right decisions. But this is not to say that all of these right decisions came without personal cost. A few of the engineers did face negative repercussions and a very few even needed to find new employment. However, overall the interviewees were satisfied with how events turned out, even if they faced negative repercussions for their good decisions. They understood that doing the right thing is good in itself, regardless of the personal consequences they may have faced.

The engineering ethics cases can be sorted into the following categories:

• Academic Ethics
• Bioengineering
• Business Ethics
• Civil Engineering
• Computer/Software Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• International
• Mechanical Engineering
• Science/Research Ethics

A quality assurance engineer must decide whether or not to ship products that might be defective.

An intern at a power electronics startup faces unkind comments from a fellow engineer. She suspects that her colleague is prejudice toward female engineers.

A chemical engineering professor discovers that a colleague has taken credit for his research.

A bioengineering researcher discovers an error in protocol and feels pressured not to report it to her supervisor.

A graduate student suspects her research adviser has earned tenure under false pretenses.

A computer startup company risks violating copyright laws if it reuses a code that is the intellectual property of another company.

A recently promoted manager at an industrial engineering company discovers that factory workers are asked to work more than eight hours a day without getting paid overtime.

Full transparency might prevent a project leader from closing a deal with a valuable client. Should he still clarify the situation to his client?

A manager at a consumer electronics company struggles over whether or not he should disclose confidential information to a valued customer.

A medical researcher is asked to trim data before presenting it to the scientific advisory board.

A technical sales engineer feels pressure to falsify a sales report in order to prevent the delay of her company's IPO.

When a computer filled with personal data gets stolen, a data company must decide how to manage the breach in security.

Employees of a computer hardware company are angered by a manager that demonstrates favoritism.

A project engineer believes his company is providing the wrong form of technology to an in-need community in East Africa.

A computer engineer is asked to divulge private medical data for marketing purposes.

Environmental engineers face pressure to come up with data that favors their employers.

In this ethics case, a woman is displeased with her work role at a computer hardware company.

A systems engineering company employee quits after getting pressured to falsify product testing paperwork.

A manager at a nonprofit mechanical engineering firm questions how responsible her company should be for ongoing maintenance on past projects.

An engineer for an environmental consulting firm must decide whether or not he should encourage his client to go with a more environmentally sustainable construction plan.

A genetic engineer feels a responsibility to educate colleagues on the truth behind stem cell research.

An engineering manager gets pressured to bribe a foreign official in order to secure a business venture in East Africa.

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An employee overseeing data analysis on a clinical drug trial has concerns about the safety of a client's drug.

The engineering ethics cases in this series were written by Santa Clara University School of Engineering students Clare Bartlett, Nabilah Deen, and Jocelyn Tan, who worked as Hackworth Engineering Ethics Fellows at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics over the course of the 2014-2015 academic year. In order to write these cases, the fellows interviewed numerous engineers and collected nearly 40 engineering ethics cases from Silicon Valley and beyond.  The Hackworth Fellowships are made possible by a generous gift from Joan and the late Michael Hackworth.

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Electrical Resistivity Tomography study above inaccessible old mine workings for safe erection of high voltage electricity power transmission terrestrial towers: a case study 

• Original Paper
• Published: 13 September 2024
• Volume 83 , article number  398 , ( 2024 )

Cite this article

• Abhay Kumar Bharti 1 ,
• Amar Prakash 1 ,
• Sandip Oraon 1 ,
• Prerna Jaiswal 1 &
• Sujit Kumar Mandal 1  

Old and abandoned mine workings become inaccessible with time owing to safety issues thereby demanding insight review of strata overlying such areas. Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) survey was carried out at locations within Kajora area of Eastern Coalfield Limited (ECL) in Raniganj coalfield, India to assess the present strata condition for the proposed high voltage electric transmission layout. Parallel 2D ERT profiles were carried out with 20 m offset covering the study area. Considering the sensitiveness in horizontal direction i.e., identification of vertical structures, the Dipole-Dipole array methodology was implemented. The acquired data sets were filtered and processed using Prosys-II software. L-curve criteria for misfit data was used for proper interpretation of subsurface features. Non-linear least-squares regularized optimization method and 3D ERT volumetric model were performed by combining 2D ERT parallel profiles data sets for better resolution of underground old mine working and accurately map the status of mine workings. High resistivity magnitude ranging between 200 Ωm to 1600 Ωm indicated intact bedrock and solid pillar. Depillared workings area (either dry-filling or air-filled) was identified through anomalous high resistivity magnitude of more than 1600 Ωm. The data generated were also validated with underground working plan and available borehole data. Combination of 2D ERT and 3D ERT techniques against each profile was found to be effective for detection of strata condition for safe installation of terrestrial high voltage electric transmission towers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend thanks to Director, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, for providing relevant support, guidance in this study and permission for publication.

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Bharti, A.K., Prakash, A., Oraon, S. et al. Electrical Resistivity Tomography study above inaccessible old mine workings for safe erection of high voltage electricity power transmission terrestrial towers: a case study . Bull Eng Geol Environ 83 , 398 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-024-03893-6

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An electrifying experience.

By Lyra Fontaine

ME’s newest student club Electric Truck (E-Truck) is daring to do what many other university students haven’t done before: convert a medium-duty diesel truck into a battery electric vehicle.

E-Truck's structures sub-team needed to gain access to and 3D-scan the wheel hubs and suspension. Photo by Raymond Smith/University of Washington

The club has more than 80 students from ME, electrical and computer engineering (ECE), civil and environmental engineering, industrial and systems engineering, computer science and aeronautics and astronautics.

“It’s an amazing team with a positive atmosphere,” says ME senior John Armstrong V, one of the club’s co-founders who serves as the team’s operational director.

The club is building on the momentum of former ME club EcoCAR , which participated in a four-year, multi-university challenge to modify a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer and improve the car’s energy efficiency, safety and consumer appeal. E-Truck students are advised by ME Professor Per Reinhall and sponsored by the PACCAR Technical Center, which has provided the truck as well as mentorship.

“The partnership with the PACCAR Technical Center has been outstanding,” Reinhall says. “E-Truck’s industry mentors, such as systems engineering lead Raeef Barsoum, have been very generous with their time.”

The club has a four-year timeline. By 2027, they plan to have transformed their vehicle into an all-battery electric truck that meets U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) standards. The truck will weigh about 33,000 pounds and run about 200 miles before it needs to be charged, the students estimate.

“We’re working on understanding the truck as a system and figuring out the mileage requirements, the motors and which batteries to use,” Armstrong says.

The team has disassembled the truck to understand its components. Photo by Raymond Smith/University of Washington

According to the DOE , medium- and heavy-duty vehicles generate more than 20% of greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. DOE’s recent study showed that by 2030, nearly half of zero-emissions medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks will be cheaper to buy, operate and maintain compared to diesel-powered combustion engine vehicles.

The club’s members are passionate about sustainable transportation solutions and interested in applying their knowledge to a large-scale project with the potential to make a positive impact on the environment, says Max White, ME senior, E-Truck co-founder and the club’s technical director.

“It’s cool to see the excitement students have for the scope of this project,” White says. “More than half of the students in the club are first-year students, so they might be able to work on this project from start to finish, from idea to final product.”

Outside of being an Engineering Student Organization , E-Truck students are involved in four related capstones in ME and ECE about retrofit packaging optimization, systems engineering, electrical architecture and controls.

“It’s been fun to advise the E-Truck capstone projects and the student organization,” says Reinhall. “While the club is student-led, I answer technical questions and connect them to other faculty with expertise they need. My goal is to keep morale high and make sure the project is fun.”

In addition to Reinhall and industry mentors from PACCAR, ME machine shop lab engineers Eamon McQuaide and Veasna Thon (M.S. ’22) assist the team.

“The students are learning the industry standard way of developing vehicles. They’re also learning about systems engineering, such as specifying what they want to build, designing the truck for a specific goal and ensuring different teams communicate.” — Per Reinhall, ME Professor

Learning beyond the classroom

E-Truck's structures sub-team with the truck, provided by PACCAR Technical Center. Photo by Raymond Smith/University of Washington

The team prepared for the truck’s arrival by cleaning and organizing the garage room in the Engineering Annex, waxing the floors and inventorying tools and supplies. Members also acquired software for structural analysis, computer-aided design (CAD), 3D modeling, simulations and more.

“We want to train our team with skills that will enable them to be engineering leaders,” Armstrong says.

The truck is now disassembled as the team works to understand its components, such as the wiring, through creating diagrams and building CAD models. Then the team will begin the design process. Next year the work will be more hands-on, with the team testing the truck’s parts, including its engine.

Students are gaining experience with software, equipment such as battery packs and motors and the full-cycle design process. They’re also learning valuable project management, leadership and communication skills. The club emphasizes the importance of knowledge-sharing and collaboration through weekly meetings where sub-teams present their findings.

“Working together to solve technical issues makes the skills students learn about in class come alive, which is helpful for their academic development,” Reinhall says. “The students are learning the industry standard way of developing vehicles. They’re also learning about systems engineering, such as specifying what they want to build, designing the truck for a specific goal and ensuring different teams communicate.”

  We’re learning a thorough way of approaching a large process that includes stakeholder analysis. It’s inspiring to learn from PACCAR engineers who visited us. ” — Chloe’ Marie Miller, Electrical Engineering student

E-Truck’s sub-teams include systems, electrical, controls, drivetrain, structures, public relations, human resources, information technology, administrative, sponsorships and safety.

Chloe’ Marie Miller, a fourth-year electrical engineering student and E-Truck’s public relations lead, joined the club to build on her experiences as a former EcoCAR member. Miller is also hoping to apply the skills she learns to a personal project: getting her pickup truck to start working.

“It’s my first exposure to industry, which is exciting,” Miller says. “We’re learning a thorough way of approaching a large process that includes stakeholder analysis. It’s inspiring to learn from PACCAR engineers who visited us. They have this wealth of knowledge that they’re willing to share and they want to see us succeed.”

It’s a win-win: through E-Truck, students receive industry-standard training, while PACCAR is able to collaborate with students.

“Many companies are looking for different perspectives and out-of-the-box solutions that students can provide,” Reinhall says.

Originally published April 29, 2024