Pennsylvania State University

team members

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  Nicholas Conde

  Engineering Manager

  

  Nicholas Conde

  Engineering Manager

  
  

  Nicholas Conde is a second-year graduate student studying Aerospace Engineering at Penn State. While earning his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Florida, Nick interned for the contract manufacturer Jabil Circuit and led a student engineering team in the 2016 NASA Student Launch Initiative. He has experience working with programming languages such as MATLAB and Python, Applied FEA, robotic systems, and high powered rocketry. Nick joined the Penn State EcoCAR team in Year 3 as the Project Manager and became the Team Lead in Year 4, hoping to continue exploring advanced vehicle technologies.

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  Adnan Sachche

  Project Manager

  

  Adnan Sachche

  Project Manager

  
  

  Adnan Sachche is a first-year graduate student studying Industrial Engineering at Penn State. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune in May of 2013 Prior to beginning his graduate degree, Adnan worked as a Senior Engineer within the Cost Engineering Department at General Motors in Bangalore, India.​

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  Molly Jennings

  Communications Manager

  

  Molly Jennings

  Communications Manager

  
  

  Molly Jennings is a senior studying Advertising and English with a focus in Creative Writing. Prior to her position as Communications Manager, Molly interned at Impressions, WHQ advertising agency as a Copywriter specializing in brand management and website copy. Through this experience, she gained valuable insight into account management, creative copywriting, and client agency relations, all of which she is hoping to further through her first year in Penn State’s Advanced Vehicle Team.

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  Zhuangzhuang Ding

  Innovations Manager

  

  Zhuangzhuang Ding

  Innovations Manager

  
  

  Zhuangzhuang Ding is a first-year graduate student earning his Master's in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He is well-versed in programming with experience in C/C++ and Python. Although this is his first year in Penn State's Advanced Vehicle Team, he has already become immersed in several projects associated with computer vision and is responsible for implementing a Driver Monitoring System for the Innovations team. As the lead of Innovations, he will utilize cutting-edge techniques in the final year of EcoCAR 3.

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  Andrew Ruf

  Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Department Head

  

  Andrew Ruf

  Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Department Head

  
  

  Andrew Ruf is a senior studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, specializing in computer system design and implementation. He has experience in a variety of different programming languages including C/C++, Java, C#, and Python. Andrew joined the ADAS team during the second year of the competition and has a lot of experience with the NXP S32 embedded system that will be integrated into the 2016 Camaro this year. This is his second-year as the Head of ADAS in the Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team.

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  Kyle Brown

  System Modeling and Simulation Department Head

  

  Kyle Brown

  System Modeling and Simulation Department Head

  
  

  Kyle Brown is a senior studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a focus in vehicle controls systems. He has extensive experience using a variety of programming languages including C, C++, C#, Java, MATLAB, Simulink, and Python. Kyle joined the controls team during the first year of the EcoCAR 3 competition and has volunteered to be the controls team lead for Year 4.

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  Anand Saran

  Mechanical Engineering Powertrain Head

  

  Anand Saran

  Mechanical Engineering Powertrain Head

  
  

  Anand Saran is a senior in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in design and validation. Through his past internships at Ansys Simulation and DMRC, he has earned extensive experience in most parts of product development ranging from conceptualization, product design, simulation, and fabrication. Anand first began working with EcoCAR 3 as a volunteer during his junior year and is now gaining leadership experience as the Head of Mechanical Powertrain within the Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team.

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  Eric Bloschock

  Mechanical Engineering Chassis Department Head

  

  Eric Bloschock

  Mechanical Engineering Chassis Department Head

  
  

  Eric Bloschock is a senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Last summer, Eric held the position of Manufacturing Engineer at Altadis USA where he earned experience in both managing large projects and designing components using 3-D modeling software. He plans to further his leadership ability through his position as Head of the Mechanical Chassis Team within the Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team.​

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  Aizat afiq Mohammad

  Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Head

  

  Aizat afiq Mohammad

  Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Head

  
  

  Aizat afiq Mohammad is a senior studying Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Engineering Mechanics. In the past, he has interned as an Equipment Engineer at SunEdison Semiconductor. Aizat has also held leadership positions as the Head of Philanthropy and recently as the President of the Malaysian Students Club. This is Aizat's first year working with the Penn State Advanced Vehicle Team as the Head of the Electrical team.

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  Sachin Aji Bhaskar

  System Safety Manager

  

  Sachin Aji Bhaskar

  System Safety Manager

  
  

  Safety Manager, Sachin volunteered as an assistant to the System Safety Manager in Year 2 of EcoCAR 3. Through his mechanical engineering internship with the Calspan Corporation and his position as President of the Penn State Pingers Toastmasters Club, Sachin has further developed his knowledge and skills in interpreting, integrating, and synthesizing ideas about technical trends and systems that will shape the future. As System Safety Manager, he hopes to further enhance his knowledge of systems engineering and its applications in analysis, design, development, integration, verification, and validation of complex systems.

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  Gary Neal

  Faculty Advisor

  

  Gary Neal

  Faculty Advisor

  
  

  Gary Neal is a research engineer and department head with the Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University. As part of his duties as a mechanical engineer, Gary’s two main areas during his 12 year tenure at the Lab have been drivetrain technology and underwater weapons systems. Gary is the Department Head of the Systems Development and Engineering Department and an Adjunct Professor in the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department at Penn State. You can contact him at gln103@psu.edu.

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  Dr Sean Brennan

  Faculty Advisor

  

  Dr Sean Brennan

  Faculty Advisor

  
  

  Dr. Sean Brennan is an associate professor of mechanical engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at Penn State. He has a wide range of research interests including dynamic systems and control with application to automotive systems, robotics, biological sensing and mechatronics. Brennan is the Director of the Vehicle System and Safety Program at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, Director of the Intelligent Vehicles and Systems Group and a member of ASME, IEEE, and ASEE. You can contact him at sbrennan@psu.edu.

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  Dr Hosam Fathy

  Faculty Advisor

  

  Dr Hosam Fathy

  Faculty Advisor

  
  

  Dr. Hosam Fathy is an associate professor of mechanical engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at Penn State. He has a wide range of research interests including optimal control, model reduction, system identification and identifiability, electrochemical battery modeling, identification, and control, and hybrid electric vehicle design and control optimization. Fathy is also the director of the Control Optimization Laboratory. You can contact him at hkf2@psu.edu.

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  Dr Denise Bortree

  Faculty Advisor

  

  Dr Denise Bortree

  Faculty Advisor

  
  

  Dr. Denise Bortree is an associate professor in the Department of Advertising/Public Relations at Penn State. She brings more than 10 years of practical experience to her teaching, including positions as communication manager, public relations manager and marketing manager for a number of organizations. Dr. Bortree researches and writes on sustainability communication. She is the director of the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication housed in the College of Communications. You can contact her at dsb177@psu.edu.

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  Dr Lee Ahern

  Faculty Advisor

  

  Dr Lee Ahern

  Faculty Advisor

  
  

  Dr. Lee Ahern is an Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations at Penn State University. His area of expertise, and primary contribution to grant-funded research, includes evaluation, measurement, analysis and interpretation of science communications campaigns. Dr. Ahern is current chair of the International Environmental Communication Association (www.theieca.org) and past head of the Communication Science, Health, Environment and Risk Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.You can contact him at laa182@psu.edu.

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  Dr Constantino M Lagoa

  Faculty Advisor

  

  Dr Constantino M Lagoa

  Faculty Advisor

  
  

  Dr. Constantino M. Lagoa received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Instituto Superior Tecnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal in 1991 and 1994, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1998. He joined Penn State's Electrical Engineering Department in August 1998 and is currently a professor. He has a wide range of research interests including robust optimization and control, chance constrained optimization, controller design under risk specifications, system identification, control of computer networks and discrete event dynamical systems. Lagoa is currently the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control and Automatica. He is also a member of the IFAC Technical Committee on Robust Control and has served as a member of the international program committee of several conferences.

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  Timothy Cleary

  Faculty Advisor

  

  Timothy Cleary

  Faculty Advisor

  
  

  Timothy Cleary is a research associate at Penn State’s Larson Transportation Institute, the director of the Battery Application Technology Testing & Energy Research Laboratory (BATTERY) and also affiliated with Battery and Energy Storage Technology (BEST). His research encompasses a range of automotive topics, such as modeling, simulation and embedded controls centering around systems integration including electrical energy storage and Hardware-in-the-Loop testing. You can contact him at tdc142@psu.edu

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  Eric Reischer

  Technical Advisor

  

  Eric Reischer

  Technical Advisor

  
  

  Eric Reischer is a research engineer at the Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State University. His primary research area is physics-based modeling and simulation of acoustics and hydrodynamics of undersea vehicles. Reischer is an alumnus of the 2002-2004 Advanced Vehicle Team and has been a technical advisor to the team ever since.

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  Ryan Noss

  Technical Advisor

  

  Ryan Noss

  Technical Advisor

  
  

  Ryan Noss is an R&D engineer at Penn State. Ryan previously worked for Jacobs Vehicle Systems as an R&D engineer developing engine braking systems and variable valve timing systems for diesel engines. Noss graduated from Penn State with his M.S. and B.S. in mechanical engineering, and, as a student, Ryan served as a group leader and as a team leader during the FutureTruck competitions. Ryan leverages his technical knowledge from both academia and industry to serve as a technical advisor to the team on powertrain related matters.